Waiting For You
by xlovelyloserface
Summary: When Troy and Gabby are engaged, she finds out she's pregnant and Troy mysteriously leaves. Four years later, Troy's in a car accident with only Dr. Montez in his care. Will he find out about his threeyear old daughter? and will Gabby ever forgive him?
1. Chapter 1

**hiii [: anyways, i've recently finished Tangling Hearts, after different tries [: ahaha, anways, i really wanted to start a new story which is based on my aunt and uncle's love story, without the baby and other details, lol. hahaha [: anyways.**

**Summary:** After promising to wait for each other, Troy and Gabriella are finally engaged. He's on his way to become an NBA star and she's on the path of a doctor. When Gabriella discovers she's pregnant, Troy mysteriously leaves. Four years later, Troy gets into a car accident and left in the car of none other than Dr. Montez. Will Troy find out about his three-year old daughter? Will Gabriella ever forgive Troy and move on?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the original plot/location/characters for High School Musical.

* * *

_**High School Graduation...**_

Gabriella Montez and Troy Bolton locked eyes, Troy gave her a soft smile as he wrapped his arms around the petite girl. Gabriella rested her head on his chest as she wrapped her arms around his body. She let out a shaky sigh as tears slowly filled the rim of her eyes. Troy gently kissed her forehead and her eyes began to water and she held him tighter.

"I don't want us to break-up..." Gabriella whispered.

Troy kissed her hair, when he inhaled her scent chills ran down his spine. "I know, neither do I. But we both agreed, didn't we?" he said, letting go to look Gabriella in the eye. He took her hands and they intertwined their fingers. "You can do your doctor thing and I can do my basketball thing."

Gabriella gave him a weak smile, then slowly frowned. She hugged Troy again. "I don't want to do it, especially if I'm not with you." she said, in a whisper as they held each other.

Troy smiled and pulled apart, as the couple locked eyes. "Gabs, I don't want to be in the way of your dreams. I don't want to be the one, that held you back."

Gabriella's tears began to slowly roll down her face. "You're not Troy, you're what's keeping me going..." she said, as Troy daintily wiped her tears away.

"I love you, Gabriella." Troy said, before he took her chin and kissed her softly on the lips. He swung his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.

Gabriella gently pulled away and stared into his deep blue eyes and smiled. "I love you too, Troy." she said, before kissing him.

Troy smiled and kissed her forehead. "Gabriella, will you wait for me? After the whole doctor or basketball thing, will you wait for me?" he asked.

Gabriella's tears began to flood her eyes, they ran down her cheeks, and her vision became jaded. The only thing she see properly was Troy, and she immdiately fell into his arms. "Of course, that's the only thing I could do."

**_Three years later, at UCLA._**

Troy was aimlessly wandering around campus. He had an hour and a half to himself, he was walking around the campus park, as students walked by to reach their class. It was fall and the weather was just a bit colder, the trees were crisper then ever and the sun shined brightly from the soft blue sky. Troy's observation was quickly interrupted by his friends.

"Yo, Troy!" Chad Danforth called to his roomate. He was surrounded by most of the college team. The team followed Chad's lead and walked over to him.

"Hey, guys...what's up?" Troy asked, as he high-fived some of his friends.

"We're gonna play some ball today. Are you in?" asked Chad.

Troy smiled as his friends encouraged him to join their quick game. As Troy's eyes wander he came across a young girl sitting on a bench on the other side of the park. She was dressed in a yellow baby doll shirt and her curly brown hair was tied in a messy bun. She was in comfy jeans and flip flops, reading a book. Troy recognized her and he couldn't take his eyes off her.

"Um...I can't, I got to go." Troy said, with his eyes still locked on her. He pushed past his friends and he sprinted to the girl. He stood in front of her, blocking the sun from her eyes.

When she noticed the sudden shade, she slowly looked up and they both locked eyes. They stood there, looking at each other a little breathless. A smile slowly crept on Troy's face.

"Gabriella...hi," Troy said, his voice a little shaky.

Gabriella smiled bright and jumped up from her seat, she engulfed Troy in a big hug, which quickly caught him off gaurd. "Hi..." she smiled.

"Wow, three years we've been here, and it's hard to believe we haven't bumped into each other once." Troy said, mesmerized by her deep brown eyes. "How have you been? How's the doctor thing?" Troy said, as the two sat down on the bench.

"I've been good. The doctor thing's going great, with all the A.P. classes I took junior and senior year of High School, I'm actually graduating this year." Gabriella blushed and smiled.

Troy's eyes lit up. "Gabs, that's awesome!" he said.

Gabriella's heart skipped a beat when he called her that familiar name. She simply smiled and nodded her head. "Yeah. What about you, how's the whole basketball thing?"

Troy nodded. "It's going good...the team's doing great. But you'd only get it if we've been watching our games, and I highly doubt you have been..." Troy said with a smile.

Gabriella laughed and nodded. "Yeah, I'm not much of a Bruins fan, I guess you can say. Just don't tell anyone who plays a sport around here, that, okay?" she said with a smile.

Troy laughed. He and Gabriella stared at each other, mesmerized in each other's eyes. A smile crept up on his face. "Hey, Gabs, you think we could go out soon?"

Gabriella knit her eyebrows, and blushed. "Wait...kinda like a date?" she asked, with a soft smile.

"Well, yeah," Troy said, with a nod.

Gabriella blushed and smile appeared on her face. "Of course, Troy."

**_Two years later..._**

Gabriella was sitting at the table in her kitchen of her apartment. She was typing up another paper, which has been really time consuming. As she struggled to finish the last page of her report, she sipped the rest of orange juice from her cup. She heard the door, but she continued writing.

"Hey, sweetie." Troy said, when he entered the kitchen. He threw his keys on the counter and kissed Gabriella on lips. "How was your day?"

"Good, just finishing up." Gabriella said, with her eyes were still glued to the computer screen. "How was the draft?" Gabriella asked, as she heard Troy rummaging through the fridge. "Check the microwave," she suggested.

Troy followed her advice and found warm pizza in the microwave. "Good." he mumbled, while he was eating his pizza. He had just returned from his NBA draft. Troy walked over to the living room and flipped the TV to ESPN, as usual.

This time, Gabriella drew her attention to Troy. "What do you mean, _good_? I know you've been drafted." she said, walking over to the living room. She sat down on the couch next to Troy. "So, can I see the hat?" Gabriella said, reaching across Troy, to get to the pocket of his suit jacket.

Troy jerked, so Gabriella wouldn't touch it. "Uh, no." he smiled.

Gabriella laughed and put on her cute frown, which Troy couldn't help but smile. Gabriella reached over and tried to grab the hat, Troy moved away and began to tickle her sides. Gabriella giggled as Troy continued to tickle her.

"_And Troy Bolton for the Los Angeles Lakers..._" The TV had said.

Gabriella and Troy had stopped in their tracks to whip their heads toward the TV. Gabriella squealed and wrapped her arms around Troy happily.

"Congratulations!" Gabriella said, in a cheery voice as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Ah, my boyfriend's a Laker." she said, before she kissed him softly on the lips.

Troy's eyes lit up. "You know, if you did that earlier, you probably would have found out sooner."

Gabriella laughed and kissed him again. "I still want to see the hat," she said, with her legs over Troy's lap. She reached into his pocket, instead of pulling out the Laker's hat...she pulled out something else. "W-What's this?" Gabriella mumbled, as she held a maroon velvet box in her fingers.

Troy gave her a soft smile and gently took the box from her hands. He took her head, intertwining fingers. "Gabriella...I've known you for a long time...and I want to know you forever, I want to be with you forever...Gabriella Anne Montez, will you marry me?" Troy asked, getting down on one knee.

Gabriella's eyes began to fill with tears and they ran down her cheeks uncontrollably. Troy gently wiped them away as Gabriella smiled brightly. "Yes, I'd love to marry you, Troy." Gabriella said.

"Yes!" Troy shouted, punching his fist in the air, before picking up Gabriella and spinning her around. Gabriella giggled just as Troy daintily put her down. They two locked eyes and kissed her softly, he pulled her closer to his body and his fingers gently went down her side. "I'm glad you waited for me..." Troy said, pulling back slowly.

Gabriella looked into his bright blue eyes and she bit her lip. "I'm glad I did too..." she said, before kissing him back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. The moment began to heat up...

**_A half a year later..._**

Gabriella was walking down the halls of her apartment complex, she had just returned from an appointment with her wedding planner about the flower arrangements. The wedding was just in three months and Troy's season was doing great. As Gabriella continued down the hall, her phone began to ring. "Hello?" Gabriella answered.

The person cleared their throat. "Um, hi, this is Marie from Dr. Peters' office. I'd like to speak to Ms. Montez, is she available?" she said, in a polite voice.

"This is she," Gabriella answered.

"Oh, hello Ms. Montez, I'd like to congratulate you on your pregnancy. Would you like me to set up an appointment with you and your fiancee to meet with Mr. Peters?" she said.

Gabriella's eyes lit up. "I am?! This is great! Wow, thanks so much!" she said, before she hung up. Gabriella raced to her apartment door. She pulled out her keys and jiggled them into the lock and opened the door. "Troy?" Gabriella called to the apartment.

The room didn't feel the same. Gabriella could tell some stuff were missing, and the apartment didn't smell anything like it did three hours ago. It didn't feel as cozy as it was before. Something was missing. Or someone.

Gabriella slowly paced to the counter, there was a picture of her and Troy, with their arms wrapped around each other on Christmas. _Citizen of the Week, _was out on the table with Gabriella's picture under it. There were photos of her at Medical School, helping at the soup kitchen, and working at the Diabetes fair. There was a note with Gabriella's name on it, in Troy's quick handwriting. Gabriella opened up the envelope and looked at the note Troy had written her.

"_Gabriella...everytime I say you're name chills run down my spine, everytime I think of your face my heart paces faster, everytime I hear your smile, I want to hold you forever. You're my everything, Gabs, and I don't know what I'd do without you. I'm so glad you waited for me...and I'm even happier I'm gonna spend the rest of my life with you._" A smile crept up on Gabriella's face and she began to blush. "_That's why...I contemplated about us...more about me...and I want to see you do great things, I really do. That's why I had to...leave..._"

Instantly, Gabriella's eyes filled with tears, her vision became blurry and her knees began to feel weak. Tears ran down her cheeks and stained the note. She pushed the note aside and didn't have the heart to read the rest. She rested her head on the counter, but her knees began to weaker. She suddenly sank to the floor, just like her heart did. She touched her stomache, and she broke down even harder.

* * *

**_Four years later..._**

"Are you sure, you can take care of her?" Gabriella asked, as she hung on the door of Taylor's car.

"Gabs, she'll be fine. Go back to work, geez." Taylor scoffed, fling her hand at her. "I have all her stuff, we're gonna be fine."

Gabriella looked at her daughter three-year old daughter, Isabelle Grace Montez. She had curly light brown hair and bright blue eyes but tan skin like her mother's. She was stuffing her face with cheerios and she had a bright smile on her face.

"Bye, Mama!" giggled Isabelle, who was sitting in her carseat of Taylor's car.

Gabriella smiled. "I guess she wants me gone...thanks again, Tay. Bye!" she said, before Taylor's car drove out of the hospital parking lot. Gabriella waved goodbye and jogged back into the hospital. Things were a little busy at the hospital, especially the E.R., where Gabriella was usually assigned. She was intern there and she had been working there often.

"Hey, can I use the phone? I want to make a quick call." she said to Clarisse, the receptionist.

"Sure." Clarisse smiled, as she tossed her short blonde hair away from her face.

Gabriella took the pale phone and dialed Taylor's number. After waiting for a couple of rings, she didn't pick up. "_Hello. This is Tro--_" the voicemail said before Gabriella hung up. It was a little strange, since her voicemail sounded nothing like her.

"Thanks anyways, Clarisse." Gabriella said, before she walked off. She walked through the hallways until she bumped into someone. "Sorry," she said.

It was Josh Matthews, a fellow intern and Gabriella's fiancee. He had short dirty blonde hair and bright green eyes and a soft smile. He was chewing on an apple that he was in his hands and he gave her a smile. "How was lunch with...Tiffany?"

Gabriella put on a soft smile. "Taylor, and it was nice..."

Josh shrugged. "Okay, cool. Are you off tomorrow night? You want to get dinner or something later?" Josh asked. "We could go see a movie or something..."

"You know I can't, I have to watch Isabelle." Gabriella said, the two of them walked together.

Josh frowned. "Aw, c'mon, we haven't went on a date in awhile, or even had dinner."

"Well then," Gabriella said, as she put her hands in the pocket of her blue scrubs. "Maybe you can stop by tomorrow night, and have dinner with us. You, Taylor, Isabelle and myself. How about that?" Gabriella asked.

"Okay, I'll see you after work." he said with a nod, before the two parted.

Gabriella continued down the semi-crowded hallway until her beeper began to ring. It was her Senior Resident, Dr. Wilson, beeping her. Gabriella turned around the opposite way and went back to the E.R. Dr. Wilson was standing by the door.

"Montez, we have a patient coming in from a car accident." Dr. Wilson said. He had brown hair with a couple of grays fading in and a tired face. "Just wait, okay."

After a few moments in silence, an ambulence pulled up to the E.R. with it's flashing lights and a stretcher quickly slid out. As the stretcher and the ambulence crew raced into the E.R., Gabriella quickly followed them.

"What's happened?" Gabriella asked, trying to keep up with the fast paced team.

"Car accident, landed on the driver's side, still unconcious." one of them said.

Gabriella continued to run with them. "Have him washed up, take x-rays, and get blood drawn." she ordered them. "Who is this?"

"Troy Bolton."

"What?" Gabriella mouthed, stopping in her tracks.

The stretcher began to race down the hall even faster. Gabriella suddenly realized she stopped and she ran after them.

* * *

**it's a little long...a little confusing...but yeah [: tell me what you think. pleasepleaseplease REVIEW[:**

**- xlovelyloserface**


	2. Chapter 2

**aw, thanks for the reviews[: yeah, so hopefully this story is understandable! haha. [: anyways, continuing...**

* * *

Gabriella slowly entered Troy's room. The lights were bright and the visitor chairs in his room where empty. The machines slowly beeped and Troy laid lifelessly on his bed. He was still unconcious from the impact. Gabriella pulled up a chair to Troy's bed, she examined him closely. He looked exactly the same, maybe his hair was a little shorter, but nothing's changed. She could hear his slow breathing, still the same after four years. Gabriella shook her head and pushed her thoughts aside. 

She had to stitch up his cuts and she began to numb the side of his cheek. She wiped one of his cuts with alcohol before she began to sew his cut back together. She was so close to his face, she could hear him breathe louder. She paused for a second and looked at the inconcious Troy. A smile slowly appeared on her face. She lifted her head and gently pushed his light brown hair away from his eyes.

_"What color do you think the bridesmaid dress should be? What about...purple...hmm, what about gold?" Gabriella mumbled to herself as she looked at the dress selection. "Troooy. What do you think?" Gabriella said._

_Troy was tiredly lying on the bed with his arms wrapped around a pillow. "I...think that I should go to sleep since I have a game tomorrow...and if you stop talking...I'll get you that dog you always wanted..." he mumbled._

_Gabriella smiled. "Troy," she said, throwing her pillow at his head. "C'mon, what color?"_

_"Hmm...I like the color...you wore when we first met...the first time."_

_"Blue?" Gabriella whispered with a small smile. "I can't believe you remember..." Gabriella murmured as she circled the dress. "Ha, after all those years."_

_"I remember everything..." Troy said, tiredly. "We both wore blue the first time we met, you wore a skirt and a red bow when we sang for the callbacks. At the country club, you wore white...right now, you're wearing yellow pajamas." Troy mumbled._

_Gabriella looked at Troy, his eyes were shut. She then looked at her pajamas, they were yellow. Gabriella let out a laugh. She wrapped her arms around Troy and kissed him softly on the lips. "I can't believe you remember."_

_"I remember everything," Troy smiled, before Gabriella kissed him again. "You know if you did that earlier...you would have gotten your answer sooner."_

_Gabriella let out a laugh._

Gabriella smirked when she thought of that. She chuckled a little and finished up Troy's scar. She dabbed alcohol on his cut before she finished. She heard some slight movement coming from the door. Gabriella turned to see who it was.

"Hey," Josh said, looking through a clipboard.

Gabriella looked a little surprised. "Hi." she said with a small smile. She wiped Troy's face and moved across the bed. She pulled chair around and sat in it before continuing with another small cut on his chin.

"Any bad cuts?" Josh asked, leaning against the doorframe.

_Why is this so awkward? _"Um, yeah on his stomach and his arm. Glass pieces, but he's fine now and they're all stitched up." Gabriella said, not making eye contact.

Josh nodded. "Can I take a look?" he asked.

Gabriella nodded as she finished sewing up the small cut on his chin. "Go ahead," she said. She finally looked up at Josh, to seem him walking over to Troy. _It's too awkward when the guys you love--or in this case, love and loved are in the same room, _Gabriella thought to herself.

Josh walked up to Troy's immobile body on the opposite side of Gabriella. He gently lifted up his sleeve and exmained the cut. "Ah, looks like it was deep."

"Wasn't that bad," Gabriella said, with a soft smile. "Umm...do you remember the color I was wearing when we first met?"

Josh paused. "Hmm...green." he said, with a nod.

_Blue. It was blue! We were wearing the same colored scrubs._ "Blue, nice try though." Gabriella said with a sympathetic smile.

Josh let out a small laugh. "I always confuse it with your favorite color." He shook his head and smiled.

_My favorite color is Red,_ Gabriella thought. "Um, yeah, so I'm done here." Gabriella said, as she took off her gloves and threw it in the garbage.

Josh nodded and gave a wave before he left Troy's room. Gabriella watched Josh leave the room. She put back all the tools and threw out unneeded items. She hovered over Troy's bed and smiled. Gabriella bent down and kissed him softly on the forehead. She slowly smiled and pushed the hair away from his forehead.

"Maybe one day I'll let you see Isabelle..." she murmured before she turned to leave the room. As she exited Troy's silent room, she entered the hallway and came across a familiar face.

"Gabriella?" a voice said, almost in a whisper.

Gabriella turned to see who it was. She didn't know if she should be happy to see them. She didn't know if she should be worried. She didn't know if she should surprised. "Mrs. Bolton, hi."

"Gabriella!" Mrs. Bolton said with a warm smile on her face before wrapping her arms around her. "It's so good to see you." she said as the two gently pulled away. "How are you, dear?"

Gabriella smiled softly. "I'm great, Mrs. Bolton. How are you?"

"Call me Amanda." she said with a smile. "And I'm doing just fine. Wow, you look goregous! Just because you and Troy...ehm," Amanda cleared her throat. "Doesn't mean, we're still not friendly towards each other."

Gabriella nodded. "Okay." she smiled.

Amanda smiled happily. "How's the medical life? Are you a real doctor?"

"I'm a doctor, but I haven't choosen a field yet. I'm just an intern." Gabriella said with a nod.

Amanda laughed. "I can't believe it! You've finally grown up. Haha, it was just yesterday when you were just sixteen."

"How's Mr. Bolton?"

"He was..." Amanda turned her head over her right shoulder. "There he is. Jack! Jack!" Amanda called, waving her hands in the air quickly.

Jack scurried to his wife's side. He let out a deep breath. "It's hard to catch up. It's so hectic here," he said, inhaling quick breaths as if he took a long run. "Gabriella! How are you?"

Gabriella smiled. "I'm good Mr. Bolton." Gabriella retorted with a welcoming smile. "How are you?"

"I'm doing good. How's Troy? Where is he?"

"Oh, right." Gabriella said with a small smile. Gabriella lead her suppose-to-be parents-in-law to Troy's room.

He had a private room and only certain nurses were allowed to tend to him, but Gabriella was repsonsible for him. She cautiously opened Troy's door, as if she didn't want to disturb him. She moved aside so Troy's parents could step inside the room.

The color in Amanda's face instantly faded. She began to look pale and her eyes began to water. She took deep breaths as Jack reached for her. She quickly fell into his arms. "I didn't know it was that bad, he's unconcious." She said, into Jack's jacket.

Jack put his arms around her as Amanda rested her face on his shoulder. "Shh, it's okay. He'll make it, I know he will. Troy's a tough guy."

Gabriella couldn't help but smile at the two. They're so loving, so thoughtful, and they're always there for each other. She couldn't deny she wasn't jealous of them, they were perfect for each other. "Tissue?" Gabriella offered, holding out a pink box.

Amanda gave her a faint smile and took a few. "Thanks," she sniffled, before she hugged Jack.

"Um. Troy has one broken rib, one fractured, the third and the fourth one. His femur is broken as well as his humerus. He's currently on splints and he had some blood drawn. Some pieces of the glass shot through his stomach and his right arm, they're all removed and they didn't hit any major organs." Gabriella said, monotone. "He's been unconcious for about...nine hours," she said, looking at her watch. "Um, there's a very small chance that he'd be unconcious for more then a week. Would you like to see the X-rays?" Gabriella asked, her voice was still stiff.

Amanda didn't say a word. Jack politely shook his head. Gabriella nodded.

"You could take a seat," she mumbled. "I'll just...leave you alone..." she cleared her throat.

* * *

It was around 8:30 and Gabriella's shift had just ended. She put on red zip up hoodie and gathered her belongings. Josh had left about three minutes ago and she was getting ready to leave. As a tradition, Gabriella passed by her patient's room, just to see if they were okay. 

Gabriella came across Troy's room. She crept to the doorframe to get a better view. Troy was still lying on his bed, his eyes shut tightly and his mom was sleeping in her seat, her hands over Troy's. Jack was slouched on the couch in the corner with Amanda's jacket over him.

"Mrs. Bolton?" Gabriella said, softly. She walked closer to Amanda, a little scared to interrupt her from her little nap. "Mrs. Bolton..." Gabriella said, gently touching her shoulder.

"Huh?" she mumbled, as she pulled her body up. "G-Gabriella? Hi, dear."

"Mrs. Bolton...you've got to go home. You're flight must have been long and tiring. It's late and visting hours are closed now. I'll take you to your hotel." Gabriella offered, sweetly.

Mrs. Bolton rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands and yawned. "We don't have a hotel. We'll have to check in."

Gabriella looked at Troy. She looked at Mrs. Bolton. She looked at Mr. Bolton. She knew what she had to do and it was the right time. "Um, why don't you stay at my apartment? I'm sure there's enough space."

* * *

Gabriella jiggled the key into the lock and the door slowly opened. Gabriella pushed the door open. Her apartment lights were still on and the TV was ringing with the sound of Nick at Nite. Amanda and Jack slowly entered the apartment, trying to balance their luggage. They placed their bags near the counter as Gabriella dropped her keys on the table. 

"Mommy!" a petite three-year old girl giggled as she ran toward her mother. Her light brown curly hair were in pigtails and she was in purple pajamas. She jumped to her mother, who grabbed her and held her on her waist. "I missed you." she giggled as she hugged her mom.

Gabriella smiled and kissed her daughter on the cheek. "I missed you too. Did you behave with Auntie Taylor?"

She nodded. "S-She took me to Chuck E. Cheese's a-and we pwayed games!" she said, as she rested her tiny little chin on her mother's shoulder and hugged her tightly.

Gabriella smiled at her daughter and tickled her stomach. She couldn't help but smile brighter when she heard her daughter's laugh. Gabriella finally remembered that Mr. and Mrs. Bolton were with her. She slowly turned to them.

Amanda and Jack were staring at her, part stunned, part happy.

"She's a doll." Amanda said, errupting the short silence. "What's her name?" she asked, sweetly.

"What's your name, baby?" Gabriella sweetly asked her daughter, as she tickled her belly.

Isabella turned to Mr. and Mrs. Bolton. "My name is Isabelle." she said, looking at them straight in the eye.

Amanda froze once she recognized those irresistable soft blue eyes. They were just like Troy's, an exact replica. "She's Troy's, isn't she?" she said, monotone.

* * *

**cliff-hanger! d: hahaha! so, pleeease review.**

**it's a looong chapter, haha. [:**

**- xlovelyloserface**


	3. Chapter 3

**hi [: thanks for the reviews[: they made me smile! haha.**

* * *

Gabriella stood over the stove, she was making french toast as the TV continued flashing scenes of one of the latest sports games. As she finished up, she placed the toast on the table and turned off the stove. She dusted off her light blue scrubs and pulled her short curly hair into a small bun. Suddenly, she felt two little arms hugging her knees. 

She turned around and smiled. "Morning, baby." she said, laughing at her daughter. Gabriella stroked her daughter's curly hair and pulled the wisps from her face. She stretched her arms to pick her up and lifted her onto her hip.

Isabelle kissed her mom on the cheek. "Mo-ning!" she smiled. "C-Can me and Auntie T-Taylor go to the Zoo?" she said, with the world famous pout she adopted form Gabriella. She hugged her mom's neck and pouted a little more.

Gabriella pushed her daughter's light brown curly hair away from her bright blue eyes. "No, I'm sorry, baby, Auntie Taylor can't play with you today. She's very busy today. Auntie Taylor's gonna visit her boyfriend."

Isabelle giggled and put her hands over her mouth to conceal them. "Booooy." she giggled.

She smiled and kissed her petite daughter on the cheek. Gabriella placed her back on the floor and Isabelle quickly ran to her grandparents, who just arrived in the kitchen.

"Gwandmaaa, c-can you take me to the Z-Zoo?" Isabella asked, tugging her grandma's long skirt. She hugged her grandmother's legs and let out a few giggles. She looked up at her with her bright blue eyes and pleaded.

Amanda Bolton looked down at her granddaughter and smiled. "Of course, sweetie. We can go this afternoon right before you show me around L.A." She said, lightly tapping her nose.

Isabelle giggled and hugged her grandmother's legs tighter. "Yay! Gwandma can take me, Mama! A-And Gwandpa too. W-We can go see the monkeys a-and the l-lions! Gwandmaaa, is there penguins there?"

"Of course, Isabelle. Sometimes they like to hide, because they're very shy. They're always busy swimming." she smiled, as she knelt down to her granddaughter's size.

Isabelle pouted, making an exact replica of Gabriella's face. "They can't swim when I'm there!" she called.

"Then you can swim with them!" Jack cried as he took the little girl by under arms as he threw her around her air. Jack placed her gently on the couch.

Isabelle giggled and ran off into her bedroom. Amanda laughed as she took a seat at the kitchen table and Jack joined her. Gabriella smiled at them when she handed them their plates. She couldn't help but noticed she smiled more when Isabella played with her grandparents and Amanda and Jack were smiling more too.

_"She's Troy's isn't she?" she said, monotone._

_Gabriella and Amanda locked eyes. Gabriella's bottom lip began to quiver slightly and she began to stutter while Amanda crossed her arms._

_"I-I, u-um...Belle, c-can you go to your room?" She said, placing her daughter on the floor and she ran to her room. "M-Mrs. Bolton...t-this is a v-very light subject. I-I l-love your son, w-well, I d-did, b-but---"_

_"I hope Isabelle doesn't develop stuttering from her mother," Jack joked as he moved their things aside._

"She's such a sweetheart. She's such a bright girl, Jack was explaining to me Troy's condition and she piped up and said '_He needs to be on splints so his bones heal and that he needs to drink milk so his bones get strong.'_" Amanda laughed, as she added toast onto her plate. "Hm, I can't believe you haven't told Troy." She said, eyeing Gabriella.

Gabriella shrugged and sipped her coffee. "Eh." she mumbled. "We haven't spoken in years. It's something I'd like to talk to him about, privately." she said with a warm smile. Gabriella looked down at her watch and checked the time. "I gotta go." she smiled.

"Guess it takes time." Amanda said.

* * *

The elevator bell rang and the metals doors slid to the side as the crowds of people quickly exited and Gabriella followed them. Seperating herself from the crowd, Gabriella walked to the receptionist office for that floor. Clarisse was leaning over her desk checking a bright red blinder. 

"Hey," Gabriella said, with a tired smile as she rested her arms over the counter and sighed.

Clarisse smirked. "Hi!" she nearly cried. She quickly grabbed Gabriella's wrist and pulled her closer. "Oh my Gosh! I can't believe you _haven't_ told me your caring for Troy Bolton!" she cried-whispered. "I seriously would have killed you if hospital gossip wasn't fast like lightening. Oh my Gosh! He's so cute. Can you see his muscles? Wait, is he even awake yet? What's he like?" she said, quickly, as if she was shooting questions at her.

Gabriella widened her eyes and let out a tiny laugh. "Um...No, No, and he hasn't even woke up yet." Gabriella shook her head. "It's just Troy Bolton."

Clarisse scoffed and rolled her eyes as she tucked strands of blonde hair away from her face. "Are you kidding me? _Just_ Troy Bolton?"

"What? Is he like, the hottie superbomb?" she said, in a high mocking voice.

"Exactly!" Clarisse squealed. She tightened her grip on Gabriella's wrist, but loosened it when Gabriella made an awkward face. "Well, there's some stupid rule that you need a stupid key or pass or whatever to go into that stupid room to see Troy Bolton!" she said.

Gabriella laughed as she searched through one of her pocket's in her scrubs. She pulled out the key card and held it out to Clarisse's face. She gasped and attempted to reach for the pass, but Gabriella pulled it away before it was in Clarisse's reach. She stuffed the card in her pocket and patted it with a smirk.

"I hate you." Clarisse frowned.

Suddenly, Victoria Thudsen, a fellow co-worker and intern arrived at the receptionist's desk with an annoyed face. She scoffed then lightly hit Gabriella's forearm. "I can't believe didn't tell me you were taking care of Troy Bolton!" she called, wacking Gabriella again. Victoria and Clarisse were one of Gabriella's closest friends at the hospital.

Gabriella scoffed. "This is situation is supposed to be kept on the down low, so technically I can't say anything about this situation. This is none of your concern whatsoever, so I believe you girls should not be questioning me." she said, with a smirk.

Victoria rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Gabs." she said, typing back her dark red hair. "Please, one of the ambulence doctors told one of the nurses, the really tall one, who's assisting Matthews who informed another nurse, who's assisting me. So technically, it's not a secret anymore." she said, with a smug grin on her face.

Gabriella laughed. "I can't believe you guys! Way to respect our work!"

Clarisse and Victoria both shrugged as Gabriella looked at her watch. She gave them a quick wave before she returned to work. She left the waiting room and wandered down the halls to Troy's room. He was in room 614, minus the six, it was his basketball jersey for the NBA, like the one from high school. She hadn't had alot of patients lately, it wasn't like _Grey's Anatomy _where there's a big emergency every other minute. Gabriella just had a couple of check-ups and the little girl that swallowed a dime and couldn't eat, but she is being realsed soon.

Gabriella slipped her card into the slot and the small green light lit up. She stuck her head in the room, just to make sure it was safe. She She slipped in as the machines beeped slowly. She inched closer to Troy's bed.

"Your parents know." Gabriella whispered, with a soft smile. "I can't believe I-I'm standing in front of you...when I should hate your guts for leaving m--us." Gabriella tucked some curly strands of hair behind her ear. "Um," Gabriella mumbled. "Isabelle, that's her name." she said, before she rushed out of the room.

* * *

Gabriella had just finished an internal bleeding operation. A patient had gotten into a car accident and had some internal bleeding, Gabriella was their choice to stop it. She washed her hands and walked out into the pale hallway. The hospital was normally like it was, quiet but with the soft chatters of visitors and nurses. She pushed the curls in her face away from her hair face. She looked at her watch it was almost eight and her shift was almost over. 

She walked down the hall to go to Troy's room. She slipped the pass in the slot and gripped the handle open. She slightly pushed the door open but was stopped by a friendly voice behind her. Gabriella turned around.

"Hey there." Josh said showing off his bright smile that flattered his eyes. "Didn't forget about dinner tonight, right?"

Gabriella squinted her eyes together and covered her face. She relaxed her face and gave him an apologetic look. "Oh, Josh, I'm so sorry. I totally spaced. I kinda have guest, excluding Taylor. So..." she tilted her head.

Josh let out a sigh. "Gabs, I was kinda looking forward on this dinner."

"I know, I know, me too. It's just that I'm kinda busy right now," Gabriella said, as she turned to Troy's door and pushed it aside, revealing three other people.

"Gabriella." Amanda said with a smile.

Isabelle's bright eye's lit up and she ran toward her mother. "Mama!" she said, running to her mom. She wrapped her tiny little arms our Gabriella's legs and hugged her tightly. She looked up at her mother with her bright blue eyes. "I saw penguins today!"

Gabriella smiled awkwardly at her the Boltons, especially with Josh right behind her. She knelt down to Isabelle's height. "Hi, sweetie." she said, kissing her daughter's forehead."How was the Zoo?"

"It was big!" she said, throwing her tiny little arms in the air. "A-And every animal in the whooole world was t-there! I was t-tons of monkeys! Gwandma even l-let me pet a g-goat! They're smelly!" she giggled.

"That's so nice, sweetie." Gabriella said with a smile. "Tell Mr. Josh hi," she whispered.

Gabriella looked up at Josh and smiled bright. "Hi Mr. Josh! Guess where I-I went today?!" she asked with a bright smile.

"Hm..." Josh said, resting his head on his hand. "Outer space?" he guessed.

"No!" Isabelle giggled. "The Z-Zoo, silly!" she said, with a big smile.

Gabriella smiled at them and stood up. She turned to Josh and gave him a small smile. "I gotta take care of something, I'll call if you I can have you over for dinner tonight, okay?" Gabriella said.

Josh smiled and nodded before he left the room. Gabriella closed the door behind him and she turned toward the Boltons and her daughter. Amanda was standing in front of Troy's bed as Jack was sitting on the couch, reading the Sports Section of the newspaper. She sort of frowned and leaned against the door. She looked at her daughter who was skipping around the room. Gabriella let out a small smile and walked toward Mrs. Bolton and gave her a worried look.

"What? Isabelle wanted to visit you at work, she really missed you. She even bought you a cute little stuffed toy from the Zoo. You're shifts almost over and we thought of taking you out to dinner." Amanda said, innocently with a warm smile.

Gabriella sighed and put on a smile. "Mrs. Bolton, I don't think you make have noticed this, but that's Isabelle's father, unconcious on the bed and she doesn't know it. I don't want to break it to her that her daddy's taking a long name," she said, with a sense of sarcasm in her voice.

Amanda laughed and smiled. "I know, I know, but we really wanted to take you out to dinner just as a little thank you." she said with a warm smile. "

"Okay." she said.

"And, I'm a little unsure of why you didn't introduce us to your fiancee." she said, as Gabriella had a surprised look on your face. "When we to the Zoo, we saw the giraffes, and Isabella said your 'fur-on-sway' was as tall as them." she said with a warm laugh.

Gabriella and smiled and turned to her daughter, and gave her an worried look. Isabelle was sitting on the edge of Troy's bed, leaning over and examining his face. She continously poked his cheek, hoping he would move.

"Aw, baby!" Gabriella sighed. "Don't do that to your da---to the poor guy. He's gonna get a big boo-boo." she warned her daughter.

"But, Mama. L-Look, he's funny!" she giggled as she continued to poke his face.

Gabriella and Amanda began to laugh. They gathered their things preparing to leave the hospital for the night. Isabelle was still playing around with Troy's immoble body. As they were about to leave the hospital room, Gabriella called for her daughter.

"Come on, Baby." Gabriella said, at the doorway with the Boltons. "Say good-bye to your friend, okay?" she said.

"Bye-Bye!" Isabelle cried, as she waved her hand. She placed a quick peck on Troy's cheek before she jumped off the bed and ran to her mother.

"Aw," Amanda said, as Gabriella turned off the lights and closed the door.

If they stuck around a little longer, they may have been able to see Troy's eyes flicker.

* * *

**aww. he might wake up...? he might not...? hm, who knows! lol. please review[:**

**- xlovelyloserfacexx**


	4. Chapter 4

**heyhey! how are you guys? yeah, so thanks for the reviews[: **

* * *

Friday morning, Gabriella was walking around the hospital. She just gave a little eight-year old boy thirteen stitches on his leg, from climbing a metal fence. Since the hospital wasn't exactly _Grey's Anatomy_, Gabriella watched a brain surgery from the glass overhead view. She wondered aimlessly around the hospital, since she hadn't been called, until her beeper began to light up. Gabriella smiled, ready for some action. 

Scurring around the corners of the hospital, avoiding wheelchairs and stretchers, Gabriella made it to the tight elevator with other doctors and Josh they gave each other small smiles and a nod.

"Hm, how was dinner last night?" Josh asked, avoiding eye contact.

Gabriella eyed him suspiciously, confused where he was going with this. "Fine. It's just that it would be nicer if you were there too. Sorry, but maybe we could make plans another time, okay."

"Yup," Josh said, nodding his head. "I'm sorry too."

"We could always have dinner another time, my apartment is really busy. We could have dinner some other time, okay?" _After Troy gets out of the hospital._

Josh nodded. "Hm, I'll make a post-it about it." he said, a little sarcastic.

Gabriella smiled, but she could tell he was still a little mad about not having dinner with her. She didn't want to make things more awkward then it was. Thankfully, she reached her floor just in time and ran out of the elevator. She gave small waves to the other interns running around the hospital. She made her way infront of room 614, with Dr. Wilson right outside.

"Ah, Montez." Wilson said, with a nod.

Gabriella nodded.

He held Troy Bolton's information clipboard in his hands. "Looks like Troy's vitals are better and have improved over the course of last night. He's been improving. Anything changed? Less pressure on the splints? New medication? Anything?"

Gabriella attempted a rewind. "Um, no nothing, actually. His parents made a small visit and..." _Isabelle._

"Hm," Dr. Wilson said, lightly brushing his chin. "Anyways, he's been improving and maybe if he had a few friends visit, that would help his vitals. Hearing familiar voices, it's party of sensitivity..."

Gabriella nodded. "Yes, I'm aware that familiar voices are some sort of a stimuli, entering the body the become an impulse and the body will react to them," she said, knowing she was aware of what Dr. Wilson was saying. "Yes, I've contacted some of his friends, but since they're busy with basketball, they haven't had the chance to visit, but I'll try again."

"Very well, Montez." Wilson said, before silently excusing himself.

Gabriella checked through the glass window of Troy's room. Nothing. She slowly entered the room, after she slipped in the pass. She slid in between the crack of the door and closed it behind her. Gabriella leaned against the door and sighed.

"Great timing, Troy." she whispered, as she walked closer to his bed, she gently touched his wrist, and instanlty felt a spark, something she hasn't felt in awhile. "Um. Under five minutes, Isabelle has already become very fond of you." she said, letting out a smile. "I-I can't believe you left us...what were you thinking? If you didn't love me Troy, then say it to my face, okay?" she said, feeling her eyes get teary. "I mean, I cried every night, I cried everytime I felt Isabelle kicking. I cried when I delievered Isabelle. I cried when the nurse asked me if the father was coming. I cried when I knew I couldn't put Isabelle's last name as Bolton. I cried when I knew her father was never going to be around. After that Troy," she could feel the hot tears on her cheeks. "I knew it was too late to let you into her life."

Gabrielle exhaled and when she was finished, she felt the tears soaking her face. "I-I was so in love with you Troy, you had no idea. It's like the rug from under me was pulled away, and I came falling down." she sighed, still holding his hand. "I still have the same apartment but took down everything that remind me of you. I swear Troy, the last time I thought about you before that car accident was three and a half years ago, when I met Josh, after that, you never entered my head nor my heart again." she said, letting the tears flow from her eyes.

"And I plan on keeping it that way," she whispered. She wanted to yank her hand away from him, but something inside her wanted not to let go. "I-I love you, Troy." she said, struggling with the words. "That's something that'll never change." She griped on to Troy's hand tighter and wiped her tears on ther sleeve.

Shen then felt Troy squeeze her hand. She looked up and examined Troy's face. "Oh, dear goodness. Please wake up...just not for me, okay?"

She felt his hand squeeze her's. She didn't take her eyes off his soft face. His eyes began to flicker and he held her hand tighter. His eyes slowly opened revealing the pair of bright blue eyes, Gabriella's missed.

"T-Troy...?" Gabriella said, softly. "It's...me..."

Troy's eyes tiredly dragged themselves to her chocolate brown eyes. "G-Gabriella...?" he mumbled tiredly.

* * *

"You're looking a little thin..." Amanda said, examining her son as she pushed his hair away from his face. "Have you been eating? Jack, look at him. Doesn't he look a little thin?" 

Jack crossed his arms as he studied his son. "I guess. Yeah, son, you're looking a little thin. I don't want to pressure you, but if you want to be ready next season, you better start eating again."

Troy sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Has anyone else visited me?" he wondered. He couldn't remember if he had seen Gabriella. It felt like a dream when their eyes met, but he slowly closed his eyes and opened them again and she was gone.

"Hm, well your father and I visited. I guess you'd count Gabriella and Is..." Amanda stopped herself. "Just us and Gabriella."

"Gabriella?" Troy said, breathlessly. "Where is she? Can I see her?"

Jack shrugged. "Well, I guess you can. She is your doctor."

Troy snuggled himself on the pillow as her parents slowly exited the room, to retrive Gabriella. She was at the receptionist's desk, writing up Troy's improvement. Clarisse began to give her weird looks but Gabriella just laughed and ignored her. She didn't know they were a warning.

"Gabriella?" Amanda said, in a soft tone.

She turned around to look at Amanda. "Yeah. Hi."

"Troy'd like to see you. He's asked for you." Amanda said, in a soft warm tone. "I think it's time, don't you?"

Gabriella shook her head. "N-No, I think he should rest. I mean, he's just woken up, he really needs his rest. It's been a very busy day."

"Busy? He's only seen the two of us. I think it's time to confront your fears." Amanda said, slightly pushing Gabriella into the direction of the room.

She slowly inched her way to the room, she saw Troy through the window and his face lit up. He attempted to push himself up. Gabriella rushed into the room, to make sure he wouldn't injure himself.

"Don't try, you're on splints, it's going to make healing your bones harder." Gabriella said, warning him from the door frame.

Troy smiled. "How are you?"

Gabriella walked closer to Troy's bed and sat in the seat next to his bed. "I'm doing fine. I'm a doctor, if you can't tell."

"You're dream, huh?" Troy said, with a sense of tiredness in his voice.

Gabriella nodded and looked away awkwardly. "Yup, what about you? The basketball dream, huh? What's that like?"

Troy shook his head. "It was nice...until this accident."

"Oh, yeah." Gabriella said. "What happened...?"

Troy shrugged. "It's kinda hard to remember...I was on my way to a game and I was gonna pick up my friend, Allie---"

"You mean girlfriend?" Gabriella said, with a smirk.

Troy smiled. "Kinda, not really. But, my phone started ringing, and it was from this random number. I went to check it and when I looked up, my car's swirving and I end up in the wrong lane and..."

"It's okay." Gabriella mumbled.

"What's with the ring?" Troy asked, nodding his head toward the ring on her finger.

Gabriella pulled her hand away and hid it with her other hand. Silence had fell over the room, but was overcome by Gabriella's beeper. She checked it and looked up to Troy. "I gotta go. Go get some rest," she said, before she left.

_Saved by the Bell._

_

* * *

_

**ah, he's awake[: when will troy find out about josh? when will josh find out about troy? when will troy find out about isabelle? **

**upcoming chapters, silly!**

**- xlovelyloserface**


	5. Chapter 5

**suuuuuuuuup. haha, mad hyper[: aaand, half a day due to some stupid test! yah. oh, yah, sorry for the really long wait. i was busy! sorry!**

* * *

"You can't avoid him forever. I mean, you guys were in love, right? You can't just push him aside and treat him as he was just a normal patient, instead the love of your life." Taylor suggested on the other line of the phone.

Gabriella sighed. "I mean, he _is _just a normal patient. And I'd like to disagree, Tay, _Josh _is the love of my life, okay?" she said, with a small smile. She could acutally see Taylor roll her eyes.

"Whatever. It's like hanging around the kids who have the chicken pox but at the same time still, avoiding it." Taylor said.

"He asked about the ring."

"Ah, it's time. Fate's been knocking on your door ever since Troy Bolton landed under your care. And you're being a lazy bum and won't answer the door. Just talk." Taylor suggested, sounding like a wise old man in TV movies.

"Talk about what?" Gabriella wondered. "I can't suddenly blurt out, 'Yeah, I'm in love with Josh Matthews, who's also another intern, so if you see him can you tell him i said hi?' Awkward." she said, shaking her head.

Taylor laughed. "Well, I didn't mean about that, but technically I meant that due to my choice of words but, I meant Isabelle."

"Oh, right I won't forget about that subject. 'Hey, Troy, if you see a little girl running around the hospital with the exact same eyes, it's your daughter. Oh, I forgot to tell you about her, she's the effect of "being in love", but do you think you can babysit her Saturday while I go on a date with fiancee?'" Gabriella said, filled with sarcasm.

Taylor continued laughing. "Well, someone had sarcastic for breakfast with the side of exaggeration."

Gabriella laughed and a smiled appeared on his face. "Yeah, let's change the subject. So tell me about your date with Chad."

Taylor squealed. "We're getting married!" she cried, loudly.

Gabriella squealed. "Oh my Gosh! That's great! Congrats Tay! When's the wedding? I can't wait! I'm so excited for you."

"Aw, thanks. Well, it's going to be in four months!" she cried happily. "Back in Albuquerque, my mom, my sister, and I have been doing hardcore webcam planning."

Gabriella laughed. "Aw, that's awesome."

"Yeah, and you're going to be maid of honor!"

Gabriella smiled. "Wow! Thanks so much, Tay. You have to give me all the details later, 'cause I gotta go."

"Alright, bye." Taylor said,

Gabriella hung up the phone and Taylor's attempt to make her smile had definitely worked. She gently rested her arm on the empty receptionist. She let out a yawn. Then she spotted a familiar heard of bushy curly brown hair.

"Chad?" Gabriella called.

He turned around with the usual confused look. When he realized who it was, he broke out into a warm friendly smile. "Hey, Gabs! Wow, I haven't seen you in forever. It's been months! How are you?" he said, giving her a quick hug.

"I'm good, a little busy. What about you?" Gabriella asked with a smile.

"I'm good, I am. How are you? How's the hospital gig?" he said, with a joking smile.

Gabriella shrugged and smiled. "It's okay, alot of running around. A little blood here and there, but it's my dream, ya know? I'm really busy this." she said, holding out her arms, presenting the busy hospital. "I should live here." she laughed. "Oh yeah, congrats on the whole marriage deal."

"Oh, you heard?" Chad smiled. "Yeah, thanks."

"What about you? High and might hot-shot NBA star, huh? What an exciting life."

Chad shrugged and laughed. "Yeah, I guess. I wish I could have visited Troy earlier, but we're swamped with practices ever since Troy's out for the season. So, it's been all practice, but my defense is killer. I guess it was the accident."

"I guess that was a good thing?" she laughed.

"Yeah, I called up the team and some of his friends, they should visit him."

"So, I know you weren't planning at all to see me. I'm Troy's doctor, by the way. He's in room 614, it's around the corner down the hallway. It's just about three or four doors down. You can't miss it." Gabriella said with a soft smile.

Chad didn't move at all. He gave Gabriella a confused yet annoyed look. "Hm, avoiding someone? What's up, man?" he asked, suspicious. "Hm..." he said, observing Gabriella. "Ah, you guys did talk but it's awkward 'cause he's the father of your child. And he doesn't know?" he said, as Gabriella avoided eye contact. "Ha! I knew it!" he laughed.

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." she said, with a smile. "Just go visit him."

"Why don't you?" Chad joked before he dissappeared down the hall.

* * *

Gabriella finally mustered up the courage to go down to Troy's room. She tried to keep her pace as slow as possible, she counted the tiles on the floor over and over. The busy hospital rushed past her, but she still kept her tired, slow pace. She finally reached Troy's room, she could feel her stomach twist in awkwardness and her palms began to get sweaty. Her heart began to beat faster when she reached the door. She leaned against the door frame. 

Troy lying down on his bed, with a weak smile. He looked tired, almost out of breath, and sad. He locked eyes with Gabriella, and it was as if the whole world kept turning and they were standing in time. Gabriella's knees began to get weak and she instantly looked away. Troy was also acompanied with a friend, a familiar friend.

"What do we have here? Gabriella Montez," Sharpay said, with a warm bright smile, as she walked over to her friend to give her a hug. "Hm, are you trying to avoid me?" she said, taking Gabriella out into the hallway. "Or _someone._" she said, eyeing her suspiciously.

Gabriella smiled and rolled her eyes. "Hi, Sharpay." she said. "You look great," Gabriella said, with a bright smile. "Is it the heels? Oh, yeah, how's Broadway? How's _Mama Mia! _going? Crazed fans?" Gabriella said, with a sarcastic smile.

Sharpay rolled her eyes and gave me a small smile. "Yeah, yeah. Nice try, you can't avoid the subject with me, missy." Sharpay said, with a stern glare. "Stop trying to avoid Troy, 'cause I can definitely see it. I know he can too."

Gabriella let out a tiny chuckle. "Oh, Shar." she said, shaking her head. "You don't get it, I'm not avoiding him I just have nothing to say. It's as simple as that," I said, throwing up my shoulders. "You know."

Sharpay scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You're my best friend, and I don't want to see you throw it all away like this," she said, as if she was sympathetic. "It's really sad, it is." she said, in her normal diva-like attitude. "I know the whole baby thing might be an obstruction to talking to Troy, but it's nothing. I mean you should really muster up all the courage in you to talk to him..."

"Uh," Gabriella scoffed, knitting her eyebrows. She rolled her eyes and her soft face broke into a simple smile. "Haha," she faked. "Nice try, Shar, I know you're little sympathetic diva voice, so don't even try. I'll talk to him...just not about..." Gabriella looked around suspiciously. "Isabelle," she whispered.

Sharpay smiled then rolled her eyes she checked her gold watch. "Well, I'm gonna get some coffee, so go talk to Troy. I'll give you...five minutes? Maybe six." Sharpay said, with a silly smile as she pushed Gabriella into Troy's room before scurring away.

"Hey," Troy said, his face in a smile, his bright eyes glowing. "Haven't seen you in awhile."

Gabriella couldn't help but smile back. "Well, it wasn't that long. How are you?" She said, inching closer to Troy's bed.

Troy shrugged but still kept the smile on his face. "I'm good, a little tired, but not tired enough to go to sleep. A little hungry, but my throat's still dry. The splints feel too tight and the light's too bright."

Gabriella laughed. "I'm sorry you don't find this hospital appealing to your needs. But I can't change you being tired, and you're throat would typically be dry and the splints are supposed to be tight in order for your bones to heal. And since you just woke up, you're eyes haven't adjusted to the light very well." Gabriella smiled.

"Yeah," Troy laughed.

"Did you see Chad?" Gabriella asked.

Troy nodded. "Yeah, we talked about the team...basketball...his engagement...basketball... and maybe there was a conversation about any hot nurses, but mostly basketball." Troy said with a chuckle.

His laugh made Gabriella's heart melt, but she silently ignored it. "Mm, you guys are interesting."

Awkward silence.

"So, um, can we ever talk about...?" Troy said, awkwardly looking away then their eyes met. "Us?" He looked at Gabriella, as she pulled her eyes away. "I mean...Brie, we never talked about it."

"Oh, okay." Gabriella said, feeling the anger build up in her. "Um, you left me when we were engaged three months before and you told me in some stupid note. I loved you Troy, but that was a big mistake. I gave you my heart, and that was a bigger mistake. And me talking to you, is another mistake." Gabriella said, with anger in her voice. She stormed out of the room, leaving Troy upset and confused on the bed.

Gabriella was stopped at the doorframe when she was face-to-face with Josh.

"You guys were engaged?" Josh asked, surprised.

* * *

**ooh. well[:**

**- xlovelyloserface**


	6. Chapter 6

**hey! thanks for the reviews[: if you guys remember, i mentioned how this was sorta based on my aunt and uncle's story of how they fell in love? i'd like to tell it to you! haha. [:**

**so, my aunt and uncle met in high school, where they dated then broke up before college. Then, they met up in college and broke up again. Then my uncle entered the seminar where he was going to become a priest. My dad says my uncle doesn't know how to ride a motorcycle properly when he was younger, so he got into an accident, and it ended up that my aunt was his caretaker. Then my aunt was being really sweet and taking care of him alot, and her boyfriend at the time was a doctor at the hospital at well. So, when my uncle's friends came to visit, he bragged about my aunt to his friends, being all, "yeah, me and that doctor? we're lovers..." yadayada, so then her boyfriend overheard and he got really mad. and my aunt and uncle ended up together! haha.**

**alot of similarties? right? lolol. yeah, but it's a little different, lolol [: haha, anyways...

* * *

**"If keep poking that poor broccoli, you'll puncture it severely." Victoria said, with a friendly smile as she took a seat across from Gabriella in the hospital cafeteria.

Gabriella gave her a small smile as she continued to poke her steamed vegetables with her fork. She rested her head on her hand and shrugged. She began to roll the vegetables over with the fork and stab them a couple of times. "Hm,"

Victoria rolled her eyes. She tied her dark red hair in a bun before she continued their conversation. "You need to stop with the destruction of vegetables." Victoria said with a smirk as she pulled the fork down. "Please stop acting like it isn't obvious you've been really gloomy most of the day."

"What're you talking about? I'm fine, I'm just…really tired and I'm really busy and this food is not working for me." Gabriella said, looking up at her friend.

"Well, you've had about two and a half coffees throughout this day, so you're fine. And you can't be busy, you've been doing simple x-rays and stitches all day. And lastly, you love steamed vegetables." Victoria said, smugly as she stared Gabriella down until she slowly cracked into a small smile.

Gabriella shook her head. "Okay, yeah, I'm down."

"Care to explain?"

Gabriella shook her head and slightly frowned. She tucked a dark ringlet behind her ear and let out a sigh to begin her story. "So, I took one of my best friend's advices to visit Troy. We made small talk until he pulled out the subject of us."

"Wait, what?" Victoria said, knitting her eyebrows. She pulled her head back and stared at Gabriella in confusion. "What do you mean the subject of us?"

"Deep secret number three, I was engaged to Troy Bolton. He left me while I was pregnant with Isabelle." Gabriella whispered, after she eyed the cafeteria for any eavesdroppers.

"What?!" Victoria cried, pulling her head back once again, unaware of the other people staring at her with puzzled and shocked looks on their faces.

"Yeah, lower your voice. Someone will hear you,"

Victoria shrugged and gave an apologetic look. "Sorry. Way to tell me now, how ironic is it that you're taking care of him?"

Gabriella shrugged. "Anyways, I stormed on about how I was so mad about him leaving me, but he still doesn't know about Isabelle and I got caught."

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"_You guys were engaged?_" _Josh asked, surprise._

_Gabriella stared at her fiancée blankly, the color from her face quickly faded and the emotion in her face had suddenly disappeared. She stared at him, waiting for him to react first, but he kept the confused and puzzled look. She gulped and gave him a look of fear. "Josh…" she said, in a soft tone, still aware they were in Troy's room._

"_Gabriella, how come you never told me?" Josh cried, with a sense of anger in his voice. His face returned to be angry, confused, hurt, and puzzled. "I knew you were hiding something from me…"_

_Gabriella let out a shaky breath and pushed Josh out of the room. She avoided his eyes when they reached the hallway. She dragged him into the nearest storage room and shut the door. She closed her eyes and gently placed her hand on Josh's arm. "Josh, please. Listen to me,"_

"_I'm listening," he muttered, angrily._

_Gabriella sighed. "It was such a long time ago…it started in high school and throughout college…" Gabriella sighed once again and shook her head. She had never poured out so much in her heart to Josh before. "We were so young…it was such a silly thing…" she said, in a soft calming voice._

_Josh stepped back and pulled away from Gabriella's touch. "A silly thing? Gabriella!" he cried, his green eyes growing bright. "You were engaged…didn't that mean something to you? Doesn't it mean anything it all?"_

"Oh, no he didn't!" Victoria scoffed, her eyes filled with surprise and shock. "He sounds really hurt, Gabs, what did you say?"

_Gabriella's eyes began to get teary, suddenly feeling angered and hurt. She frowned slightly and shook her head as she looked down at her feet. "I can't believe you just said that." Gabriella breathed. "It meant so much to me, Josh." Gabriella cried. "It meant everything; it meant so much, Josh. He was the first person I ever loved---"_

"_Wait? What? He's the father of Isabelle?!" Josh shouted._

Gabriella paused and looked up at Victoria, trying to read her reaction. Victoria's face was blank, until a sympathetic and soft look on her face appeared on her face. Tears filled the rim of Gabriella's eyes but she would never let them slide down her face.

"Aw, Gabs." Victoria said, sympathetically as she gently patted Gabriella's shoulder. "Why didn't you ever tell him? Were you…afraid? Scared?"

Gabriella shook her head and frowned as she looked down at her plate. "I don't know. I was so afraid if he knew, he'd leave me to. I knew I should have told him…"

_Gabriella remained silent. She avoided his green eyes and looked down at her shoes. She slowly lifted her gaze and their eyes finally met. Tears had filled them and her vision became unclear. Josh shook his head and turned around her rested his arms on one of the metal shelves and rested his head._

"_I'm sorry I never told you." Gabriella whispered. "I was so afraid of being hurt like this…I don't get why this is a big deal…" she sighed and breathed hard before she stormed out of the storage room. _

Collapsed her head into her hands she began to sob softly as Victoria moved to the chair next to Gabriella. She placed her hand on her back as Gabriella rested her head on Victoria's shoulder. Victoria patted her friend's back.

Clarisse slowly walked up to the table. Gabriella slowly lifted her head, revealing her soaked face. Clarisse frowned and wrapped her arms around Gabriella's shoulder and gave her a comforting hug. Gabriella smiled as her two friends comforted her.

"I don't even know why I'm crying…" Gabriella whispered.

Clarisse smiled. "It's okay, there's never an explanation needed."

* * *

Gabriella sat on the floor at the end of the hallway, her back leaning against the pale walls of the hospital. Gabriella looked down the hallway, at Troy's room. They lights were still on, just dimmed. Gabriella threw her head back and let out a sigh. She felt like a drama queen today. Gabriella saw Josh pass by the hallway. 

"Josh," she whispered, looking up at him.

He stopped and gave her a tiny smile and nodded. "I gotta go,"

Gabriella nodded understandingly, relieved when she saw Josh's loving smile and calmed down. She watched as Josh passed and gathered the courage to go to Troy's room. She pulled herself up from the floor. She slowly dragged herself to Troy's room, sort of uplifted by Josh's sweet smile. She finally reached Troy's door and flashed a soft smile.

"Hey," she said, in a soft tone, leaning on the doorframe. "My shifts, over and…I just wanted to say bye…."

Troy nodded and smiled. "Yeah. So, um, Josh's the guy?"

Gabriella shyly nodded. "Um, yeah, he is…" Gabriella avoided Troy's eyes. "Is it okay if we not talk about us or him? Please?"

Troy nodded understandingly. "Yeah, whatever you want."

Gabriella smiled and walked to Troy's bed. "Pinky Promise?" she said, holding out her pinky for Troy.

"Okay," Troy laughed as the two locked pinkies.

Then, Troy's hospital phone rang and the two released fingers. "Um," Troy mumbled as he picked up the phone. "Hello?" he said. "Oh, hey Allie…yeah, I miss you too."

Gabriella blushed and left the room quickly, without having a chance to say a real goodbye.

* * *

**yeah, that's it. but expect more [:**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Hey guys[: I know it's been _weeks_ since I've updated, but school's started and the homework's really been piling up. Sorry! Many apologies to everyone! I've been writing this chapter for awhile now. So, I'm trying to update as soon as I can. So, yeah, I'll stop with the AN, haha. Anyways, thanks for the reviews, haha.**

* * *

Two weeks have passed and the November feeling hasn't sunk in fully in the California air. After Taylor has decided to stay with Chad in his condo, so they could start planning their private wedding back in Albuquerque. Troy's parents returned to New Mexico, after Troy and Gabriella reassured them numerous times that they were going to be just fine. It took a lot of persuading and trust for Troy's parents to return home, especially when their thoughts were mostly on how Gabriella could watch over Isabelle. But Gabriella quickly suggested Day-Care is just fine. Sharpay had only visited Troy twice but decided to spend an extra week in L.A. to see if she preferred movie star diva or Broadway diva, no one ever said you can't do both.

"See, this is Judy Garland in the _Wizard of Oz_. She's probably one of my favorite actresses next to Marilyn Monroe, Meryl Streep, Natalie Wood, and Reese Witherspoon." Sharpay said, sitting on the floor of Gabriella's living room. She was giving Isabelle a course on movie/Broadway must-knows. "Don't you love the shoes? I played Dorothy in my Sixth grade play, I had to wear a wig." Sharpay said with a sweet smile as she tilted her head.

Isabelle watched mesmerized by the munchkins dancing around on the TV. She stuffed a few Trix in her mouth and sipped her apple juice. "Those silly boys are dancing!" she giggled as she used her tiny hands to conceal them. "Look Mama, those silly boys are dancing!" she giggled again as she pointed to the screen.

Gabriella, who was preparing her morning coffee in the kitchen looked at the television screen and smiled at her daughter. "Aw, how cute, Belle." She said, as she waited patiently for her coffee as she prepared some pancakes and French toast.

"Belle, they're actually munchkins, the tiny men who sing and dance and add an ensemble for their musical." Sharpay said with a nod as she looked at the three-year old. "Many famous actors and actresses start their careers as a munchkin."

Isabelle examined the television as she stuffed Trix in her face. She chewed for awhile, enjoying the tiny men's routine. "Wait! Aunty Shar, they're nothing like the donuts!" she frowned sourly, slouching and leaning back onto the couch. "Is that what I eat? Silly boys?" she frowned as she tugged Sharpay's designer jeans.

"Oh, no, definitely not. See, the producers just wanted to come up with a cute name for the silly boys. Donuts are made out of flour and silly boys are made out of shi—" Gabriella quickly cut Sharpay off.

"Donuts and boys are very similar except boys have no jelly filling." Gabriella smirked sweetly at her daughter. She gave Sharpay a warning glance but she just shrugged.

Isabelle didn't question her mother's answer but continued watching random scenes from the _Wizard of Oz. _"Mama, you look just like Dorothy!"

Gabriella laughed at her daughter. "Thanks, sweetie." She said, as she poured her coffee into a traveling mug.

Sharpay smiled at Isabelle. "Hm, after this maybe we could watch…_West Side Story_. Hm, No, maybe we should leave it last since I have the DVD with all the cool special features and stuff like that. What do you think, Belle?"

Isabelle looked up at Sharpay, her cheeks filled with Trix and an innocent look on her face. Isabelle chewed her food a little longer before she answered her "aunt". Isabelle shrugged. "I think we should go to the park today, a-and we can sing your musicals."

Sharpay smiled brightly, as if Isabelle was a successful student that she had pastured. "Oh, she's definitely going to be a Broadway star," she smiled, hugging Isabelle.

Gabriella laughed. She grabbed her purse and threw in her wallet, I.D., and a book. She took her car keys off the counter and walked into the leaving room. "Mama's leaving," she said, kissing her daughter on the cheek. She bent down to Isabelle's size. "Listen to Aunty Shar, okay?" she said, as Isabelle nodded. Gabriella walked over to Sharpay and gave her a quick hug. "Are you sure you know how to cook lunch?" Gabriella asked her friend.

"Of course I can cook!" Sharpay scoffed happily, crossing her arms over her chest, getting a little defensive over her self-proclaimed cooking skills. "Belle will love my macaroni and cheese," Sharpay promised with her cutesy smile that made Gabriella question her decision.

Gabriella looked at her friend suspiciously and nodded. "Okay, then." Gabriella said. She walked out of the apartment, locking the door before she continued down the hall. The apartment was usually quiet, old couples, young couples with newborns, and hard-working college students usually stayed in the complex. So the only noise would be an old couple arguing over what TV show to watch or an infant baby's cries. So, Gabriella was a little surprised to see some of her neighbor's huddled in a little crowd at the end of the hall.

"Oh, this is horrible! Mr. Hall said he'd get the heater and plumbing fixed, but no! This place will flood by this afternoon, take my word!" Mrs. Ramirez said to the crowd her bright brown eyes looking at everyone, with warning.

Mrs. Herold shook her head, letting a few strand gray hair release from her tidy bun. She was a seventy-year old women living with her husband, who coaches basketball at the local high school. She had a soft aging face and bright green eyes. "Mr. Hall just doesn't want us to leave the complex, I'm not paying that rent today if I know I'm not going to get my heat tonight!" she said, shaking her head.

"We've got to get out of here by tonight! Crystal David on the first floor, her whole room's been flooded to her ankles! She left this morning," Mrs. Benson said in her peach blouse and jeans.

"Oh, what happened?" Gabriella asked her neighbors, poking her head into the conversation.

Mrs. Ramirez shook her head. "Oh, the heating and plumbing is horrible at the complex, and Mr. Hall hasn't got it fixed yet. It's likely this place will flood." She sighed.

Gabriella frowned. "Oh, well, I'll see you all later. I got to get to work," she smiled at her neighbors before jogging down the stairs.

[ ( - - - - )

"Hm, what happened?" Clarisse asked, as she saw Gabriella leave a patient's area in the E.R.

Gabriella looked back at the thirteen-year old girl sleeping on the bed, as her mother watches over her carefully. "Oh, allergic reaction, she's just a little tired. She was at her best friend's birthday, and she's usually really smart about what she eats and she just got a reaction." Gabriella said, registering the patient into clipboard copy.

Clarisse nodded, looking over Gabriella's shoulder. Gabriella turned to her friend and handed her the copy. Clarisse nodded and took the clipboard and returned to the receptionist's desk. Gabriella left her friend and took a walk to the elevator, where she met up with an old friend.

"Hm, hi." Josh said, with a nod as Gabriella entered the elevator.

Gabriella nodded and stepped next to him. She clicked the sixth floor and waited in silence as the metal doors closed before them. As the elevator began its slow tiring ride up, there was no verbal communication. They just simply were avoiding eye contact. Josh rocked back on forth, placing his weight one foot at a time. Finally, the bell rang releasing them from their misery.

"Well," Gabriella said with soft smile as she stepped out, relieved. Gabriella let out a sigh right after the elevator door closed and continued its ride. She was glad to be out of that claustrophobic area. Gabriella stuffed her hands in the pocket of her scrubs and walked down the hall. Her destination was Troy Bolton's room.

Gabriella walked to his room; she took her usual spot at the doorframe. She was too nervous, too scared to enter Troy's room and she didn't want to seem that interested. Gabriella watched Troy. He was in some dark jeans and a long-sleeved shirt sitting on his wheelchair. His back was facing her and Troy was dialing something on his cell phone. Gabriella gently knocked on the door so he could acknowledge her presence.

Troy lifted his head and spun around on his wheelchair. "Oh, hey." He said, giving her a soft smile. He pushed his hair away from his eyes, just by moving his head. "Sorry," he mumbled, with the smile still attached to his face.

Gabriella shook her head. "No, it's fine." She said, in a soft tone. "Ready to go?" Gabriella asked, with a smile. "You must be dying to get out of here, gets a little boring sometimes," she said, with a shrug as she walked into the room.

"Well, not really." Troy said, blushing. He ran his fingers through his hair then he rubbed his neck with his hand. "Um, I'm kind of excited to be returning to the world," he laughed at himself.

Gabriella nodded understandingly. "Well, you're in for a treat." Gabriella smirked. "Let's get going," she whispered, as she walked behind Troy's wheelchair. She gently griped the handles and pushed Troy to the door. She gently turned off the lights and continued out of the room.

Gabriella pushed his wheelchair in silence. The only noise that could be heard were the small conversations in other rooms passing and the slow movement of the tires. Gabriella was deep in thought. If everything happens for a reason and destiny is destiny, then she came to the conclusion that maybe her and Troy were never meant to be. This accident wasn't something that was going to bring them together, unite the family, and fall in love all over again. This accident was nothing, it didn't affect their relationship it all. Everyone knows love for each person is different and their love story is different, Gabriella knew she couldn't expect her love story to end with Troy, it was going to end with her being with Josh. She couldn't love Troy again, no matter how badly she wanted to.

Troy sat silently on the wheelchair, deep in thought as well. Right behind him was the girl he was in love with, he just wanted to explain to her way he left. He left for a good reason and he was hoping for another chance. He turned around to see Gabriella's face, she just gave him an innocent sweet smile. Troy's heart wanted to melt, but it couldn't 'cause he gave his heart to her.

He knew what he had to do. He knew had to do it before they reached the elevator.

"Gabriella?"

"Hm?"

"You dropped something," Troy said, turning around to face her.

Gabriella looked at him oddly, letting go of the handles. She inspected her pockets, patting them one by one. She turned around, looking back at the pale hallway. She knit her eyebrows and turned around, ready to continue to push Troy to elevator, but he wasn't there. He was rolling his wheelchair down the hall, leaving. Maybe even escaping.

"Troy!" Gabriella called, sprinting after him. She watched carefully as she ran after the muscular man pushing himself down the hallway.

Troy continued to roll down the hallway until he made a sudden turn. Gabriella was more than ten feet behind him. She caught him in the ladies' bathroom, he was in the middle of the bathroom, looking like he almost expected Gabriella. Gabriella pushed aside the doors and gave him a puzzled look. She crossed her arms over her chest and attempted to continue steady breathing after that difficult run.

"What was that, Troy?" Gabriella cried at him, confused and still puzzled. "Where were you going?"

Troy looked away then looked back at Gabriella's eyes. "I was going to get you."

Gabriella knit her eyebrows in confusion. "What are you talking about? You're crazy, Troy. Has this medicine gone to your head?" she cried.

Troy sighed and gently reached out for Gabriella's hand and surprisingly, she didn't pull away. "Gabriella, I've loved since the first time we kiss and…I can't let it all go away like that. Brie," he whispered.

Gabriella could feel her eyes watering. She couldn't take her hand away from his, their palms fit together perfectly. She didn't say a word.

"I still love you, I've always have. I want you back, Brie." Troy said, looking down at the floor then back to her warm brown eyes.

Gabriella slowly shook her head and sighed. She could feel the tears slowly run down her cheeks as she heard Troy speak those words. Not matter how long she wanted to hear them again, those words still hurt. "T-Troy, I'm engaged." She said, looking down at her left hand. "You can't change that."

"But you can, Brie. I-I know I left---"

"I know you did too." Gabriella cried, the tears flowing down her rosy cheeks. "I cried every night you left because we had something, something so big, so beautiful." Gabriella means their love, but she also meant Isabelle. "How could you throw it all away like that, through a stupid note, Troy?" Gabriella cried, yanking her hand away from Troy. "It would have hurt less in person." She muttered.

Troy shook his head. "You didn't read the whole thing, did you?"

"Of course not, Troy. I didn't want to hear about how you fell in love with another girl or how you're a father of another child!" Gabriella cried, wiping her angry tears with the palm of her hand.

"But Gabriella, I'm here to explain…there was so much more to that note…" Troy said, shaking his head slowly. He looked down at the floor then their eyes met.

"So, much more? Really? How much, Troy?" Gabriella said in a soft tone. Her eyes were lightening, almost coming to an understanding. "You have no idea what an impact that note made on my life…" Gabriella mumbled to herself.

"I still love you, I never wanted let you go." Troy whispered, his eyes silently begging for forgiveness but Gabriella didn't budge. He rubbed his thumb against her hand, a silent plea.

Gabriella sighed and shook her head. "Well, you did let me go, Troy. That's not a sign of love at all." She mumbled, turning away.

"Well maybe this is," Troy pulled her arm back and grabbed her onto his lap. He kissed her passionately on her lips. Gabriella instantly pulled away and stared into Troy's deep crystal blue eyes. She sighed and leaned in and kissed him back. He ran his fingers through her hair as Gabriella slipped her arms around his neck. Passion ran through their body like a river flowing.

Suddenly the door flew open, banging against the wall.

"Mama?" a tiny three-year old girl called. Her curly light brown hair was in a bun and her blue eyes popped out with her baby blue dress. She turned to her tall blonde babysitter. "Aunty Shar? What is Mama doing?" she asked, licking her bright red lollipop.

"I dunno." Sharpay said, still amazed. "S-Sorry…uh, Isabelle didn't like the macaroni and cheese…"

Gabriella quickly pulled away from Troy and they stare deeply into each other's eyes, amazed by their actions. Gabriella pulled her eyes away from Troy and turned to Sharpay and Isabelle. One had their jaw to the floor and the other tugged her blue dress, confused.

[ ( - - - - - - )

"What was that?!" Sharpay cried, as she tightened her grip on the steering wheel as she drove her rent-a-car Altima through the streets of L.A. "You're first all, 'I don't want to talk to Troy…no, Troy…bad, Troy.'" Sharpay said, with her annoyed face expressions in a soft tone. "But then, next time I see you two, you're on top of him making out. Way to fill me in, Gabriella."

Gabriella shushed Sharpay. She looked at the backseat, where Isabelle was asleep in her car seat. Gabriella turned back to Sharpay. "It was a whole misunderstanding…" Gabriella said, rolling her eyes. "It's so hard to explain…we were arguing over not being together then, he kissed me." Gabriella said, examining her words carefully.

"So, then why were you on top of him?" Sharpay said, stopping at a red light. She turned to Gabriella and knit her eyebrows in confusion and curiosity. "Usually, when I'm mad at Zeke, I don't end up on top of him," she said, in her sarcastic drama queen tone. Sharpay and Zeke married two years ago in New York, where they both now reside. While Sharpay's Broadway career is still going on strong, Zeke owns a four-star restaurant called _Shar_. Guess who it's named after.

Gabriella fluttered her eyelashes tiredly as Sharpay continued to drive. She threw her hand over her forehead and sighed. "It's really…complicated…"

Sharpay shook her head in disbelief. She kept the smirk on her face, knowing that she was right, Gabriella and Troy still had some unclear feelings. She turned into Gabriella's apartment complex parking lot. She parked her rented car into one of the empty spaces.

"Thanks," Gabriella said, stepping out of the car. She grabbed a tired Isabelle from the back and placed her gently over her shoulder. Gabriella silently shut the car door.

"You'll finish your story later, Gabriella." Sharpay said, warning her friend. "Well, I got to go meet with my agent."

"Bye," Gabriella said, as Sharpay backed out of the parking lot and back onto the L.A. streets. Gabriella tightened her grip on Isabelle before she went inside the complex.

A stingy odd smell filled the air, similar to a toilet. The air felt congested and thick, almost gassy. Gabriella covered her daughter's face to protect her from the thick air. Mrs. Ramirez had a large brown box in her arms; she was dressed in casual clothing, ready to leave. Gabriella stopped her, a little confused.

"Mrs. Ramirez, what's happening? Where are you going?" Gabriella asked her neighbor.

"Ay," Mrs. Ramirez shook her head in dismay. "Mr. Hall didn't get the plumbing or the heating fixed. Look what happened, some rooms are flooded and the air is gross! Honey, take your baby and leave soon." Mrs. Ramirez said, looking down at her box, filled with important mementos. She pulled out her note from her pocket. "Her, darling, this is my new address and phone number, if you need babysitting or anything, call me." She said, giving Gabriella a quick hug.

Gabriella took the note gratefully and smiled as Mrs. Ramirez returned to her car, where her husband was waiting. Gabriella went to the staircase and climbed the flight of stairs. As she reached the second floor, she could smell the horrible smell of public bathrooms filling the air. She placed her hand gently over Isabelle's head. Gabriella dug through her pockets and found her keys. She jiggled them into her knob and the door opened. The gust of gross air came at her so quickly, she nearly gagged. She knew she couldn't keep Isabelle in the room for too long, or she'd get sick. Gabriella turned around saw a familiar pair of eyes staring back at her.

"Looks like she's yours," he said, in a tired voice.

Gabriella looked down at a sleeping Isabelle and nodded. "Yeah…" she said, as she petted Isabelle's curly light brown hair. "What are you doing here?" she said, with a frown.

Troy moved closer, rocking on his crutches. "Well, I kinda followed you…"

Gabriella looked away and stared at the floor. "I know," Gabriella mumbled.

"Looks like you need a place to stay." Troy said, awkwardly inhaling the air. He quickly scrunched up his nose and let out a cough.

"No, I'm fine, Troy." Gabriella said, trying to put on a straight face. Out of the seven deadly sins, she had to much pride to admit that she needed a place to stay. She couldn't fall into Troy's trap, not again, not ever.

Troy shook his head. "Brie, you can't stay here. It's not good for you or your…b-baby…" Troy said, choking on the last few words. He balanced most of his weight on his free leg and scratched the back of his neck.

"Her name's Isabelle," Gabriella whispered.

"Stay with me."

"What?"

Troy looked away, blushing with embarassment. He paused for a minute, trying to come up with the right words to say to her. "I mean, um…you need a place to stay…at my house."

"Troy, it's necessary, I can't live with y--" Gabriella was cut off by the sound of a flushing toilet with a gross and disturbing echo. Gabrielle shook and cocked her head back. She cleared her throat and walked to Troy. "For Isabelle," Gabrielle said, stroking her daughter's hair. "Don't get any ideas."

* * *

**Moving in together? Whaaat? lol. anyways, please review[: they make me smiiile, haha. i'll try to update as soon as I can! Suggestions? Comments? Concerns[: ooh, yaaah.**

**- xlovelyloserface**


	8. Chapter 8

**heyhey [: i know you all hate me! you probably want to kill me, i'd probably slap me in the face too [; many apologies, extremely busy. but i've started writing this chapter like a month ago! forgive meee[: hahaha. and fanfiction hasn't been letting me upload in this chapter in forever, so many apologies. i know being busy isn't a good excuse[:**

**thanks for the reviews[;**

* * *

"Welcome to my home," Troy Bolton said, holding his free hand in the air as he put all his weight on one of the crutches. He managed a soft smile, but you could tell he was struggling to lean on only one of his crutches. He put down his arm once he saw Gabriella's awkward face. Troy embarrassingly cleared his throat and lean against his crutches. "Um, why don't you come on in?" he said before he hopped inside. 

Gabriella hesitated, but Troy's reassuring smile led her into his mansion.

Glossy oak floors, crystal chandelier, mahogany doors, imported furniture his mother probably picked out since it had great taste, priceless works of art Troy didn't care about, and too much Gabriella's eyes could handle. It was hard transitioning from a middle-class apartment with a second-hand dining set, Mrs. Ramirez's old refrigerator, and a couch from a garage sale to a large mansion that could fit at least four families. She held Isabelle in her arms, her eyes widened with amazement.

"W-Wow, this is…this is something…" Gabriella said, with an awkward nod.

"Your room is upstairs, I'd take you to see it, but as you can see, that wouldn't be a good idea." Troy joked with a smile. Gabriella didn't laugh nor did she smile, she just glanced back at Troy, then to his leg, then her chocolate eyes scanned his home. "Um…how about we get your stuff from the car? I'll have Greg send it up," he said, referring to his new suggested chauffer.

"Oh, that's fine, I'll do it myself."

Troy shook his head. "No, really, it's fine. He'll do it. You're holding…um…Isabella." Troy said, struggling with her name.

"It's Isa_belle_." Gabriella said, correcting Troy sternly. "You don't know your own daughter's name?!" is what she wanted to yell, but she bit her tongue.

* * *

After Gabriella brought all her things to her room, she instantly crashed onto the cashmere sheets of Troy's guestroom. She threw the last box on the floor and climbed into bed, as he daughter was fast asleep. Gabriella snuggled up against one of Troy's goose feather-filled pillows, cuddle against one of Troy's cashmere blankets, and her eyelids began to droop and she instantly fell asleep. The nap may have only lasted more than fifteen minutes until the annoying tugging on Gabriella's shirt woke her up. Gabriella's eyes fluttered open to see little Isabelle with a small pout on her face. 

"Where are we?"

Gabriella gently got up and cleared her throat. "Hey, baby." She said, wiping her eyes as she kissed her daughter's forehead. "We're at, um…Uncle, uh, Troy's house. You remember him, don't you?"

Isabelle shook her head slowly, as her ringlets brushed against her shoulder. "Mommy, I want to go home." She frowned. "I can't find Mr. Cuddles,"

Gabriella sighed. Troy had gotten Mr. Cuddles for Gabriella during the summer before their senior year. They were watching a TV movie when the Snuggles commercial came on.

"_Aw, isn't that bear adorable, Troy? Look how cute it is. It giggles, it smiles," Gabriella said with a smirk as the commercial showed the bear falling into soft cloths._

_Troy laughed and shook his head. "Brie, it's a marketing thing, the cuteness sucks in all the money. It's all based on it and you know it."_

"_I know," Gabriella frowned. "I want the bear, it's cute."_

When Troy had given her the bear two days later, she was amazed by Troy's good memory. Gabriella was more surprised by Troy's memory then by the bear. Every time she and Troy had gotten into arguments, she latched onto the bear. It made her comfortable, reassuring herself that everything was going to be okay. Gabriella remembered the day Troy left her, she had forgotten that the bear gave her feeling of warmth, maybe if she did hold that bear…

"Ma," Isabelle frowned.

Gabriella nodded and crawled out of bed. She opened one of the boxes labeled "Isabelle's Toys". She opened it up and dug into the box. She pulled out a cream colored wool bear with a small smile. Isabelle's face lit up as she jumped off the bed. She ran to the bear and wrapped her arms around it.

"Thank you, Mama." Isabelle said. "I'm hungry," she stated, holding her stomach as proof.

Gabriella took her daughter's hand and led her out of the room. They entered the hallway, as they walked down Isabelle looked around in amazement. The two went down the stairs, Gabriella waiting patiently as Isabelle took her time for each step. They entered Troy's furnished kitchen filled with an island with unused dishes lying on the shelf. Troy was sitting on the table, his leg over one of the chairs, reading the sports section.

"Brie," Troy said.

Gabriella managed a smile. "Baby, this is Uncle Troy." She said, bending down to Isabelle's height. She looked on the floor, holding Mr. Snuggles.

Troy could tell Gabriella felt awkward calling him that, he felt awkward as well. He didn't want to be introduced as that, he felt there was something more. Troy flashed Isabelle a smile. "Hey." He said.

Isabelle smiled and looked up. "Hi, Uncle Troy!" she said, as her and Troy's eyes met.

Troy froze. When he saw Isabelle's eyes, it was like looking in a mirror. She had a soft crème colored skin like Gabriella's and her features. Her curly hair was a light brown and her smile was Troy's. He managed a smile when he saw Isabelle, he couldn't deny the coincidence.

"Mommy," Isabelle said, turning to her mother. "He looks an awful lot like that man that was sleeping…in the h-hospital…do you remember? With Gran--"

"Yes, honey, that's him." Gabriella said, cutting her daughter off. "I brought her into work."

Troy nodded understandingly and quickly recognized Mr. Snuggles. "Oh, hey, it's Snuggles." He said, as a grin slowly appeared on his face. "You still have him?"

"Yes," Gabriella said, with a nod. "It's Mr. Snuggles now." She said, looking at Troy, who was still puzzled about Isabelle.

Isabelle smiled back at her father, they were both unaware of the position that Troy held. Isabelle hugged Mr. Snuggles tighter and reach for her mother's hand.

"Do you mind if I make her a snack?"

Troy shook his head. "No, not at all."

Gabriella smiled. "Oh, thank you again, Troy. Um, how about I'll make dinner for all of us? As a…thank you…" Gabriella said, with an awkward nod.

"No, it's okay, we'll order something…"

Gabriella made a face. "Oh, no, we're not going to order anything, besides it's the least I could do." Gabriella said, with her persuading smile as she tucked a few ringlets behind her ears.

Troy couldn't say no. He nodded his head with approval. He slowly and gently rose from his seat, when Gabriella reached out to help him, Troy shook it off. Gabriella stepped back with a worried look when Troy attempted to get up. He leaned against the crutches able to balance his weight. Troy gave Gabriella a reassuring smile before she turned around to prepare dinner. He limped out of the kitchen as Gabriella prepared all the items necessary to make dinner, but Troy stopped himself. He turned around and watches as Gabriella pulled out lettuce from the refrigerator with little Isabelle sitting on the island counter.

"Hey, Gabs?" Troy asked.

Gabriella looked up from her work to see Troy. "Yeah," she asked as she placed the lettuce on the chopping board.

"Um, why don't I take Isabelle from you? Just for a little while," Troy suggested, with a sense of worry in his voice. He looked at Isabelle who was mesmerized by Mr. Snuggles.

Gabriella looked at him with worry, then turned back to Isabelle. "I-I don't know Troy…" Gabriella mumbled. _I just don't want you alone with your own daughter._ "She's not familiar with you…and you know how children are…" Gabriella said, looking away to come up with more stupid excuses to keep Isabelle away from Troy.

In Gabriella's perfect world of right now: she'd get married to Josh, become doctor maybe for hospitalized patients, cardiology, or emergency medicine, write a novel, and keep Troy from ever meeting Isabelle. But in Gabriella's _perfect_ perfect world: Troy wouldn't have left her. They would have raised Isabelle together, continue working their dream job and they'd live happily ever after. Too bad it's not reality, so she'd just stick to her original perfect world.

"Gabs, I'm not _that_ bad of a babysitter," Troy suggested with a warm smile, trying to lighten up the stiff and awkward mood.

Gabriella smiled and finally gave in. "Okay, but don't feed her anything that'd bother her stomach, okay?" Gabriella asked, raising her eyebrow to warn Troy.

Troy smiled. "Of course not," he said.

"Belle, why don't you go with Uncle Troy as I make dinner? Okay, baby?" She asked her daughter, who was playing with Mr. Snuggles. Gabriella took her daughter down from the counter and placed her gently on the floor. "Why don't you stay with Uncle Troy for now?"

Isabelle nodded and ran toward Troy's side. Troy couldn't help but smile when he saw Isabelle's smiling face. He limped to the living room, where the TV was already on. Isabelle followed his lead skipping after him as she squeezed Mr. Snuggles. Troy took a seat on the couch, resting his leg on the coffee table. Isabelle climbed onto the couch and took a seat next to Troy.

"Um, what do you want to watch?" Troy asked, the little three-year old girl.

Isabelle, dressed in a light purple jumper-dress with white stockings and a turtle neck, simply shrugged. "Iderno, I like _Dora_…and _Sesame_ _Street_…oh, a-and the _W-Wizard of O-Oz_!" Isabelle said, throwing her hands up in the air.

Troy chuckled at the little girl beside him. "Aw, well, it's too late for _Dora_ and _Sesame_ _Street_…and I doubt the _Wizard of Oz_ is on…" he said, flipping through the channels. He stopped on ESPN, showing the latest game of the L.A. Lakers.

On the screen, Chad was dribbling the ball up the court. He was being defended by a player on the Detroit Nuggets, Chad faked right then went left and passed the ball to John Bridges, a player on the team. He dribbled around the opposite team's player and threw the ball back to Chad. He went up to the hoop with a swift lay-up as his teammates cheered. They were up by eight points.

"_Newly engaged Chad Danforth makes another shot, that's twentieth tonight. You know, Frank, I really didn't expect this from Danforth, he's a great defensive player, his strongest skill is defense, but he really surprised us tonight._" One of the announcers commented. "_Definitely, Pat. Ever since Bolton's absence, he's improved to really lead this team. We just learned Troy was released from the hospital today and is now residing in his home with care, hopefully he'll come back in time for next season so our dynamic duo can lead this team to victory._" Another announcer agreed.

"Head's in the games," Troy cheered, throwing his fist in the air. Isabelle slightly flinched in fear and hugged Mr. Snuggles. Troy looked down at the small three-year old. "Oh, um, sorry…" he couldn't find the right words to say to Isabelle, she looked so familiar. "It's um, basketball. You like basketball…?"

Isabelle shrugged. "I dunno, the boys i-in my d-daycare play outside, they said girls c-can't play." She said, with a nod, her eyes widened once the game continued.

"Well, basketball's for everyone, not just for boys. Don't listen to those boys. Everyone can play basketball, you just gotta try." Troy said, smiling at the little girl.

Isabelle looked up at Troy. "Then how come Mama doesn't play?" she questioned her unknown father.

Troy smirked and leaned in closer toward Isabelle. "Well, can you keep a secret, Belle?" he asked, as Isabelle widened her soft blue eyes in curiosity. "She's not that good…actually, she probably can't play basketball to save her life…"

Isabelle threw her hand over her tiny little mouth and giggle furiously. She squealed and laughed at the little secret.

"You won't tell your mother, right?"

Isabelle shook her head and her soft light brown curls brushed along her shoulder. She smiled. "No…"

"Okay, good. Our secret."

* * *

The dinner consisted of baked ziti with chicken, small salad, and conversation made mostly by Isabelle's interesting happening of today with Aunt Sharpay. She continued on her theory about munchkins and how they were very different from the one her mother buys for her. Gabriella and Troy hardly talked, maybe shared a laugh and commented on the food once or twice. Troy offered to clean up as Gabriella prepared Isabelle for her bath. 

Troy limped up the stairs after washing the dishes, which was more like stuffing them into the dish washer. His walk up the stairs took about seven minutes, since he struggled with every step, letting out a tired sigh and giving a stressed look every other minute. Once Gabriella and Isabelle passed by the stairs form the bathroom, Gabriella rushed to his side as Isabelle stood on the top of the stairs in awe. Gabriella place her arm on Troy's back, support his steps helping him reach the second floor in peace.

Isabelle looked a little worried, her piercing blue eyes widened with surprise. She ran back into their guestroom in search of her soft little friend, Mr. Snuggles, leaving Gabriella to Troy's rescue.

"Are you okay?" Gabriella asked, with a worried look on her soft face. Her curly brown hair rested on her shoulders and her eyes sparkled, making Troy smile.

"Um, yeah, I'm fine, thanks." He said, looking up, noticing their face were only about an inch apart.

He straightened up and smiled, slightly brushing Gabriella's hair away from her face. They were lost in each other's eyes. Gabriella searched his navy blue eyes, looking for some kind of answer with his actions. Troy could only smile at Gabriella's cute face. Their bodies were inches apart, silently screaming to be in each other's arm. Troy slowly moved closer, his fingers gently touching her cheeks.

"You know…" he whispered.

Gabriella felt his breath near her face, sending chills down her spine instantly. She looked down at the floor, then back to his charming face.

"About today…what happened…" he said, slowly leaning in to kiss her.

Their lips slowly attempted to reach other, nearly centimeters away from each other. Gabriella moved her hand to touch Troy, but she instantly remembered the ring on her left hand. She put her hand against Troy's muscular chest and pushed him away as she looked away. Troy clenched his jaw in disappointment and looked away.

"I-I'm sorry." Troy mumbled sadly.

"You know you can't k-kiss me, Troy…I'm e-enag---" Gabriella couldn't continue but she just looked away.

"Is it because you don't want to or you can't?" Troy said, slowly taking Gabriella's hand that rested on his chest into his hand. Their fingers intertwined, resting against Troy's chest.

Gabriella shook her head in disapproval, looking away from Troy's eyes. She let out a heavy sigh, with dissappointment and sadness in her eyes. "Troy...I c-can't...I made a promise, I said yes."

Troy frowned a little and clenched his jaw. "I know you did Gabs, but can't we make this work? One last time? One more chance?"

"Troy, we can't do this…what we had…"

"I want that Brie, I want it back so bad…" Troy whispered, reaching for her other hand, which she gave him willingly.

Gabriella's eyes slightly brimmed with tears. "Troy, I want it back too…but you gave it away--" Gabriella bit her lip to stop herself from speaking and crying.

"I can explain, Brie, I have so much to explain to you…" Troy said, his eyes silently begging for Gabriella's time. He squeezed her hand tighter.

Tears began to roll down Gabriella's soft cheeks, she sniffled a bit and tried to manage a smile. "You hurt me a lot, Troy, you have no idea…"

Suddenly, the telephone rang. The two snapped back to reality, once they released their hands, they felt like they had snapped out of a dream. The two stepped back, analyzing the words they had just admitted to each other. The telephone rang once again and Troy limped to the small table in the hallway, where the telephone lay.

"Hello?" Troy said, answering the phone. "Oh, hey Allie…" Troy said, looking at Gabriella.

She quickly wiped her tears and took a deep breath. She turned away and ran down to her room. She closed the door and locked it, surprising little Isabelle, who was sitting on the bed. Gabriella broke down, she slid down the door, sitting on the floor, sobbing terribly. Her chest began to ache, but it was mostly her heart. The past she threw behind her was coming back to her. She didn't want to deal with Troy again, the past is the past. Isabelle walked over to her mother and gave her a small hug. Gabriella managed a smile and wiped her hurtful tears.

"Don't cry, Mama." Isabelle said, with a frown.

Gabriella quickly wiped her tears and managed a weak smile. She touched her heart and felt the necklace that was hiding under her shirt. She pulled out the silver chain with the engagement ring Troy had given her. The beautiful diamond was sitting on the ring, preciously. She looked at the ring, engraved inside said, '_free_', and nothing else. She realized the special engravement the day she gave birth to Isabelle, that day she was free of her hurt.

She honestly didn't know what Troy meant by it.

_Oh, you confuse me…_

_

* * *

_

**that's all for now, hopefully i'll update in a week or...two[: we'll see [:**

**- xlovelyloserface**


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: aren't you proud of me[; i updated! and i finished this chapter in about two-three days! haha, props to me, loll. anyways, with good time management, i'm able to squeeze in some time to update for you all! haha. thanks for the reviews[:

* * *

**"And then he tries to kiss you?" Clarisse said, her eyes widened in amazement, awe, and curiosity. Her small mouth hung open for a second and she blinked a few times. She turned her head to see Victoria's response, who was simply speechless. Clarisse turned back to Gabriella, still surprised. "A-And what did you do?"

"I pushed him away." Gabriella shrugged, as if the fact was simple. "I had to, I mean…he hurt me so bad, I couldn't have just been like, 'Hey, I love you, let's make out'." Gabriella said, with her eyes widened as she had the 'duh' tone on.

"Um, hello?" Victoria said. "It's Troy Bolton, I would have said that." She said, as if it were obvious.

Gabriella cracked a smile and Clarisse laughed. The three girls shared a moment of laughter during their fifty minute lunch break. Victoria gave them an obvious shrug before she sipped her lemon-lime vitamin water.

"Yeah, but I made a commitment," Gabriella said, with a soft sad tone. She tucked her curls behind her ear and shrugged once again.

Clarisse rolled her eyes. "To be married, not a commitment to be together forever. So, you know if you guys kissed…_again_…who knows!" Clarisse said, with a smile.

"I know…then I'd just hurt myself all over again. I had a total breakdown after that, in front of Belle." Gabriella said. "Besides, Troy has a girlfriend…"

Victoria nodded. "Yeah, Allie…Davidson, that's her. She's some model,"

Gabriella frowned and threw her hands over her cheeks. "Mm, I'm not surprised if she's at home with him right now…oh, gosh, and I let Troy babysit Belle."

Clarisse laughed and stuck her tongue out at Gabriella. "Oh, well, then it just means that Belle will get the third person view on the action." She said, with a cutesy wink, which made them all crack up.

"Oh, dear Lord." Gabriella laughed.

"Hey, um, what about…?" Victoria looked around the cafeteria, making sure it was safe. She leaned close to her friends and whispered, "Josh," She sat back to see Gabriella's reaction.

Gabriella fluttered her eyes lazily. She didn't really have the energy to deal with Josh right now or anything at all. She shrugged tiredly and sat back in her seat. "I don't know, he doesn't know any of these, actually…" Gabriella let out a heavy sigh. "I don't plan on telling him until he asks. It's only being fair,"

Clarisse cocked her head toward her right shoulder. "Being…fair?" Clarisse and Victoria looked at each other, with a puzzled look on their faces. "It only be fair if you told him yourself, not keeping it away from him."

"Yeah, Gabs," Victoria said, nodding her head in agreement with her blonde-haired friend. "Didn't you make 'commitment'?" she rose one of eyebrows, with smug look, the caused Gabriella to rose her eyes. Victoria crossed her arms and smirked, smugly. "You like him, don't you?"

Gabriella knit her eyebrows in confusion. "W-What are you talking about, Tor? I-I don't what we had, it's over and it's going to stay that way…" Gabriella said, with nod, so she'd reassure her friends. "Let's just end this subject without any personal opinions." Gabriella said with a smirk.

* * *

"Mama!" Isabelle cried, as she threw her arms in the air and ran toward her mother. Gabriella swooped down to pick up her little girl. "I missed you. Me and U-Uncle Troy had t-tons of fun today! W-We played basketball and then we watched a movie a-and then went around town! You shoulda came, mama." 

Gabriella crouched down to her daughter's size. "Aw, I would have loved to come. I'm so glad you had fun, I missed you too, baby." Gabriella gently kissed her daughter's nose and the little girl giggled.

"Can we still go out today? C-Can we play?" Isabelle asked, pouting and fluttering her eyelids. "I haven't seen you all day!"

Gabriella frowned and her daughter. "I don't think so…maybe we could so something else…" she held her daughter's hand caringly. Gabriella checked her wrist watch, it was 5:23 PM.

Troy limped into the room with his crutches under his arm. He was dressed in Wildcat sweatpants and a Graphic Tee. He flashed Gabriella a warm smile, but she could only give him a small grin. Troy limped closer to the mother and daughter. Gabriella stood up straight and put her arm on Isabelle's shoulder.

"Uncle Troy, mama won't go out anymore!" Isabelle pouted to Troy.

Troy smiled at the little girl. "Mm, how about we all go out for ice cream? There's a small little shop downtown." Troy said, with his bright smile. He shrugged happily.

"Troy, you can't even walk properly." Gabriella said.

Troy shrugged. "Don't worry," he said. "I have a wheelchair in the garage and besides, it's just a walking distance." He said.

Isabelle pouted and wrapped her tiny arms around her mom. "Please!" she said, silently begging with her big blue eyes.

"Okay," Gabriella said, with an eye roll as Isabelle cheered.

"Yay! Thank you, Mama." She said, hugging her mother.

About fifteen minutes later the three of them where on the streets of L.A. Troy was in his wheelchair, with little Isabelle on his lap. Gabriella, dressed in her gray and red Wildcat sweatshirt with her skinny jeans and simple black flats. Her short curly hair was tucked behind her ears with a few strands over her face. Isabelle was in her favorite outfit, a light purple dress with a white turtleneck. Gabriella was pushing Troy's wheelchair down the sidewalk.

"I can't believe you still have that sweater," Troy said, with a smirk.

Gabriella laughed. "Look who's talking," Gabriella said, referring to Troy's wildcat sweatpants.

For a November day, the weather wasn't that bad. A slight breeze would fill the town just a couple of times. The sun was still out, showering its rays over them gracefully. After the little incident that night, Troy and Gabriella haven't made much physical contact, but they did make some small talk every once in a while. Isabelle didn't take much notice to it because she was occupied by everything else going around her, other than her parent's awkward relationship.

The three of them arrived at the local ice cream shop, the door made the special ring when they entered. The cashier, squealed with glee when she recognized Troy's face. She grabbed her coworker, whispered into her ear and they both returned to see Troy.

"Oh my gosh! It's Troy Bolton!" one of the girls squealed. "Oh my gosh, welcome to Darlene's!" she squealed. "Can you sign this?" she asked, handing him an ice cream cup.

Troy smiled and looked back at Gabriella awkwardly. "Um, sure, I'd be glad too." He said. He accepted the cup gratefully and made his quick signature on the cup and returned it to the girls. "Uh, do you think we can order?" Troy asked.

"Oh, can we take a picture with you!" the dark-haired girl asked, walking around the counter. She held out the camera towards Gabriella. "Hi, are you his girlfriend?"

Gabriella blushed and looked away. "Um, no, just an old friend." She smiled, she could feel her cheeks burning with embarrassment and awkwardness.

"Oh," the girl said, a little embarrassed as well. Her pale cheeks were filled with a bright red when she blushed. "You look cute together anyways," she whispered to Gabriella.

Isabelle, who was sitting on Troy's lap, looked around curiously. She was surprised by the girls' reaction toward Troy, but she managed not to say anything about it. She looked at her mother and her mother just smiled at her daughter.

"Aw, is this your daughter?" the blonde-haired girl asked, her eyes lighting up. "She's so cute! She looks just like you!"

Gabriella's eyes widened and felt her stomach turn, she looked at Troy, but he kept a smile on for the girls. She felt the room get hot, her biggest fear coming true. Gabriella nervously bit her lip. She took a deep breath, trying to relax. Troy finding about his daughter was the last thing Gabriella wanted right now.

"Oh, no, she's not mine. She's my friend, Gabriella's, daughter. Her name is Isabelle." Troy said with a smile.

Gabriella's stomach twisted even tighter. Her throat began to feel dry and tight. She felt as if someone punched her right in the stomach. Her eyes began to fill with tears, but she bit her lip to stop from crying. It felt as if a cold wind rushed over her heart, like a frost overcoming her happiness. She wish he didn't deny her, but he didn't know. Gabriella let out a sigh. It upsetted her more that Troy denied her, then Troy finding out. Either way, it's a lose-lose situation in her mind.

"Oh, she's so cute!" the dark-haired girl said, turning toward Gabriella. "Can you take a picture of us, please?"

Gabriella nodded and took the camera from her hand. The girls lined up next to Troy, crouching down to the height of his wheelchair. They smiled, including Isabelle, as Gabriella snapped the picture for the delighted fans.

"Thanks so much!"

They ordered their ice cream. Isabelle choose chocolate and vanilla swirl with rainbow sprinkles, Troy had chocolate mint, and Gabriella had her favorite banana ice cream. Troy paid for the ice cream, after Gabriella's numerous attempts to pay, put the cashier insisted it was free. The family continued their stroll down the sidewalks of L.A.

"Well, that girl was definitely a fan of the basketball star, huh?" Gabriella said, with a smile as she put the spoonful of ice cream in her mouth.

Troy laughed awkwardly scratched his neck. "Yeah, I guess."

"Why were they all over y-you?" Isabelle asked, comfortably sitting on Troy's lap. "Are they your friends, U-Uncle Troy? They must have been bery g-glad to see you!"

"Oh no, they're fans, sweetie." Troy said, sweetly to Isabelle.

Gabriella couldn't help but smile at the cute little father-daughter moment that they had. Troy looked up at Gabriella and smiled, and she smiled back. They passed by a toy store and immediately Isabelle jumped from Troy's lap and walked toward the glass screen to see all the toys.

Gabriella walked to the side of Troy's wheelchair and smiled. She purposely yet slowly slipped her hand in his, which caught Troy by surprised. He felt the warm slip through his palm and he smiled. Troy looked up at her and smiled happily. Gabriella smiled back.

"Thanks, Troy." Gabriella smiled.

"For what?" Troy asked puzzled, but with a smile on his face.

Gabriella shrugged. "For babysitting, for watching her, for…"

"Being kind of like her father-figure for the past few days?" he said. He said the exact words Gabriella was thinking of.

Gabriella smiled and nodded. "Exactly."

"I don't want to replace him,"

Gabriella smiled. "Don't worry, you're not." Gabriella said, this time she wasn't lying.

Isabelle ran back to Troy and jumped on his lap, they slowly released their grip and continued their stroll, unaware they were in the public eye.

* * *

Early Saturday morning, Gabriella heard the doorbell continuously ring. She tiredly rolled out of bed, careful not to awake her daughter. She was dressed in striped pajamas and her hair was in a messy bun. She wiped her tired eyes and walked down the stairs as the bell continuously rung. Gabriella wanted to shout at the person ringing the doorbell at eight in the morning but she believed it wasn't necessary. Gabriella walked to the door unlocked it and opened it up. 

A beautiful blonde girl with bright green eyes and a surprised look on her face was at the door. She couldn't have been more than twenty-two. There was thin pink headband in her blonde hair and she was dressed in skinny jeans, a white shirt, and a black jacket. Her large purse was hanging from her shoulder and she had a magazine rolled up in her palm.

"Hi, can I help you?" Gabriella asked, with an awkward smile.

The girl examined Gabriella's face carefully then her eyes lit up. "Hi, I'm Allie Davidson," she said, with a sweet smile as she stuck out her hand.

Gabriella's eyes lit up and smiled. She took her hand and shook it. "H-Hi, I'm Gabriella Montez…" she said, with an awkward smile. "Are you looking for Troy?"

Allie clenched her jaw but managed a smile. "Yes, where is he?"

"Um, in his bedroom, I guess." Gabriella said with a shrug.

Allie gave Gabriella a fake smile, where the anger was seen right through it. "Thank you, Gabriella." She said. "May I come in?" she said, walking inside the house. She placed her purse on table along with the magazine. "I'm Troy's…well, I don't even know where I stand at this point." She said, with a hurtful smile. "You are…?"

Gabriella blushed slightly, hoping it wasn't noticeable. "Oh, I'm just an old friend of Troy's. We went to High School together…a long time ago."

Allie smiled, more politely this time. "Oh, that's nice. Are you here on a visit or something?" Allie asked, with a sweet smile yet her confused eyes gave it away. She nodded her head, understandingly.

"No, I'm interning as a doctor here in L.A. My apartment's plumbing wasn't so good, so Troy offered that I stay here with my daughter." Gabriella said, as Allie continued to nod her head. "Yeah, what about you?"

Allie made a small shrug. "I'm a model, yeah, but I do part time as a receptionist for an agency downtown." She said, with an awkward nod. "S-So you met Troy in High School, I recall?"

Gabriella nodded, awkwardly looking around the room. "Well actually we met a Ski Resort, but we met up again in high school. Just a coincidence. We also went to college together. Um, how'd you and Troy meet?"

"Oh, hm." Allie said, with a polite smile and small shrug. "At a charity event about a year ago...for lung cancer." Allie said.

Awkward silence floated around them. Then a bustling and rustling noise came from upstairs. Both girls looked up, puzzled by the sudden sound.

Allie's eyebrows rose and she smiled. "I'll just be a second…" she said, as she went up the stairs.

"A-Alright…" Gabriella mumbled.

She walked over to the table where Allie left her stuff. Gabriella took the magazine and put it in her hands. She let out a gasp. On the cover of _US Weekly_, Gabriella, Troy, and Isabelle were walking around the streets of L.A. To top it all off, the photographer caught them right when Gabriella and Troy where holding hands. Gabriella's throat went dry, but her stomach got butterflies. "_Troy Bolton's first outing with a New Girl and her daughter?!_" underneath the bold print: "_Troy makes his first appearance with 'friend' Gabriella and her daughter. Where's Allie Davidson at?_" How could it feel so right, yet so wrong at the same time?

"Oh Gosh, Josh is gonna kill me."

* * *

**oh, the paparazzi [; hahaha. they're so annoying, don't you think [;**

**- xlovelyloserface**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note**: **yay, updating three times in one month?! crazy huh. hahaha [: anyways, i've been eating alot this holiday[x hahahaha. loll, anyways, here's chapter ten. thank you for the reviews. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!**

* * *

Gabriella was walking down the streets of L.A. dressed in her purple sweats and a white wool scarf. She wore her sunglasses, since it was sunnier then ever in L.A. She had her Starbucks latte in hand and a small smile on her face. The weather was cool, calm, crisp, and sunny. She took a sip of her latte and smiled as she continued her morning stroll around town. She felt the cool quick breeze on her cheeks and smiled. Gabriella was on her way to hang out with Taylor. 

Isabelle decided to spend her day with Troy, who she claimed was "T-Tons of Fun!" Troy had promised to sit through a marathon of Baryney, Dora, and musicals. So Gabriella didn't mind be exempt from the little activity they had planned. Gabriella couldn't deny that she was jealousy her daughter was spending more and more time with Troy. She didn't mind the father-daughter bonding time either, since Troy was the closest thing to a father figure, even though he was the father. Josh wasn't that fun, he was just nice. It wasn't so bad because Troy didn't require a weekly fee, unlike the Sunshine Daycare.

After the incident this morning, Gabriella hadn't made much conversation with Troy. None of them dared bringing up the subject of _US Weekly_'s cover this morning, that the whole nation will be seeing. Allie Davidson wasn't a happy camper as well. After her and Troy's conversation—but seemed more like a fight, was over, she stomped downstairs gave Gabriella a polite smile, and left. But the smile definitely included an icy glare, which Gabriella didn't really make a big deal out of. She knew the truth, she wasn't so sure Troy did, but that's all the mattered to her.

**TAYLOR: I can't believe your magazine debut! Lol. See you Charlie's.**

Gabriella looked at her phone in her palm, she didn't want to reply. She was actually to lazy. Gabriella spotted a convenient store, she walked over to the store and stepped inside, since the door was already open. Craving for a small bag of M&M's, Gabriella strolled to the register and picked out the bag. Underneath the rows of candy were a couple of magazines. Including _US Weekly._

"Oh, goodness." Gabriella whispered. She took the whole row of magazines with her on the cover and held them into her hand. She placed them on the counter including her M&Ms and gave a polite smile to the cashier. "How much?"

The guy was at least 18, bright red hair, tall, and skinny. He looked surprised at Gabriella's antics, he looked down at the magazines and added them up. "Um, you know…that's a lot of magazines…nine to be exact…"

"I know," Gabriella said, upset and annoyed over the whole 'Troy's got a new girl?!' controversy.

"Um, yeah…" he mumbled. "Just saying…" he said, looking nervous. "You know the girl on the cover kind looks like you…"

Gabriella frowned and gave him an annoyed look. "Thank you for the insight." She said, her eyes narrowing toward him.

The guy cocked his head back in surprised. "That'll be 14.30, ma'am."

Gabriella threw on fifteen dollars in the counter, grabbed her things and left. She walked down the street and threw out eight of the magazines into the dumpster, but she kept one for herself.

* * *

"Oh, congrats Gabs," Taylor said with a smug smirk and a little laugh. She spun the straw in her soda and smiled. "It's your first celebrity magazine debut!" Taylor laughed. She held out a copy of the magazine and pulled it next to her dark skinned face. 

Gabriella rolled her eyes and let out a tired sigh. She could easily see it was her. The picture was at an angle. You could see the side of Troy and Gabriella's face, but only the Isabelle's chubby cheeks and curly sandy brown hair. Gabriella and Troy's fingers were intertwined. She took a sip from her drink and shrugged. "Thanks?" she smiled. "I don't really care since it's not a big deal. Only to Allie Davidson,"

"Oh, Troy's 'girlfriend'." Taylor rolled her dark eyes. "Mm, she's nice and she's smart…kind of like you. You know if you think about it, you guys are a lot alike. She wanted to be a doctor…but the model thing. Oh, she loves animals."

"You guys met?"

Taylor nodded and took a bite of her sandwich. "Yeah, um, at a basketball party thing a couple months ago."

"Thank you for informing me now. Maybe I wouldn't have moved in with Troy then if I knew about Miss Model Superstar." Gabriella sighed and took a bite of her sandwich wrap. "She came to Troy's house today,"

"Whoa, she must have been really mad." Taylor said, flipping through the magazine.

Gabriella shrugged slightly. "Well yeah. She must be an actress too, because I could hardly tell." She said, as she and Taylor burst into laughter.

"Well? What did she say?" Taylor asked, her eyes focused on the magazine she was shuffling through.

"Well…we introduced ourselves, talked about how we knew Troy, and we heard him waking up, then she went upstairs to his room. They were fighting, but not yelling fighting…just talking, like arguing."

_Gabriella walked back upstairs and could hear the couple making a slight commotion in Troy's master bedroom. They were arguing, it drew Gabriella to the door. She slowly walked over to the room and stood close to the door. She could hear Allie questioning Troy._

"_Who is she Troy? Another girl?" Allie cried._

"_Yes, she is another girl. My friend, Allie." He said, surprisingly calm. Troy was always known for his hot temper. _

"_Then what am I to you? Huh? A hook-up? A fling? Another girl like her!" Allie cried, obviously upset._

_Gabriella stomach twisted and she gulped slowly. She let out a calm breath and eavesdropped on the couple's argument. _

"_She's not another girl!" Troy cried, finally revealing his temper. "I l-l—she's my friend." He whispered. "Don't talk about her like that, okay? She's one of my best friends."_

"_Then what am I, Troy?"_

"_My girlfriend…"_

"_Well, then we really need a double take on that, Bolton. You're taking a real advantage on this break we're having." Allie sighed._

"_By helping out my friend?!"_

"_No! By not telling me! Troy, if she was you're friend, wouldn't I have met her?" Allie questioned._

No, that would have been impossible, _Gabriella thought_, We didn't talk during at that time.

"_We didn't talk then."_

"_You don't understand what this break means T—" _

"_Yeah, I do, Allie. It means you and I could go on dates with whoever we want. Talk to whoever we want, see whoever we want. This break is to only see if we're ready for a real relationship."_

"_Well, doesn't seem like we are now…" Allie muttered, bitterly."I'm sorry, Troy, I'm just jealous…"_

_There was silence for about a few seconds, they were most likely hugging. Gabriella felt a shot of jealousy inside her. She questioned her feeling and sighed._

"_Um, I'm ready for this relationship Troy; I'm just waiting for you…" Allie said._

_Gabriella felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. Troy was supposed to be waiting for her; they were waiting for each other. They promised each other, right now it doesn't look like that promise is going to be fulfilled._

Gabriella was nearly in tears, but she bit her lip to stop from crying. She felt stupid, for feeling this way. Taylor looked at her friend, sympathetically. Gabriella wiped the corners of her eyes and put on a sincere smile. She shrugged it off as Taylor gave her a warm, caring, smile.

**Josh: We need to talk. Can you meet me the hospital?**

Gabriella sighed.

"Well, it's whatever now." Taylor said. "Well, let's hear what _US Weekly_ has to say." Taylor cleared her throat. "_Troy Bolton, NBA basketball star for the L.A. Lakers was spotted Friday afternoon with a lovely brunette and…her daughter?! They stopped for ice cream, walked around, and held hands…what' this leading to? Allie Davidson, Troy's girlfriend, was not spotted recently. They were rumored to be broken up…but this picture might confirm it._"

"That's stupid, don't believe it."

Taylor smiled. "It' hard not to fall for tabloids, hun."

* * *

"I don't know what to say." 

Gabriella shrugged slightly, thankful her and Josh were sitting side by side, not face to face. She shook her head then looked up. "You don't have to say anything…" Gabriella sighed. "I know you're mad,"

"Well, yeah. You didn't tell me that you need a place to stay; you didn't tell e that you moved in with your ex-fiancée, who's the father of your child, and supposedly you guys are dating. Why can't you just tell me?!"

Gabriella shrugged and shook off his words. "I-I'm sorry…I don't know, I've just been so caught up…"

"Oh! I understand now, he's the reason why you want to hold off the marriage. Isn't he?" Josh said, his head was down, staring off. He leaned his head against his hand, which rested on his leg.

"N-No, I'm just waiting until we finish our internship…and when we're ready, you know?" Gabriella said, sincerely.

Josh sighed and turned to her, his green eyes staring at her. "So you think we're not ready?" he asked, a little insulted.

"I-I didn't mean like that…"

Josh bowed his head slowly as Gabriella had gotten that horrible guilty feeling. Her shoulders lowered slowly and she took his hand, sincerely. He didn't move, he didn't even flinch. Gabriella sighed and looked away. Silence filled the air.

"I'm really starting to doubt you…well, us." Josh finally said. He shook his head and looked up so their eyes met. He looked at her sadly. "Gabriella, I-I don't know anymore. I love you, I do…it's just that."

"I know," Gabriella breathed.

Josh stood up from the bench that the couple was sitting on. "I don't know anymore, I really don't. I want to trust you…but I rather not." He said, those words piercing Gabriella's heart. She looked down sadly her eyes brimming with tears as he continued. "I think we just need some time."

"Josh, please don't do this. You're…being ridiculous and you know it." Gabriella said, biting her lip to stop herself from crying. "I love you," she whispered. "Please don't be so foolish, I'm over Troy." She said. Her mouth said it, but her heart didn't believe it. "I do want to marry you, but…we just need some time, well, I need some time. I know you do too…"

Josh didn't say anything. He cleared his throat and looked off into the distance. Silence fell over them, letting the words sink in. Gabriella was so curious why Josh wasn't screaming his head off. He should be yelling and screaming, but just by his restless movement anyone could tell he was definitely pissed off. He walked around the bench a couple of times before he choose the right words to say to Gabriella.

"You know, I'm ready." He said, angrily. "I'm just waiting for you."

Gabriella looked up at him apologetically. "You know, I don't think you are ready. You're unsure aren't you?" she whispered. "So, I'll be waiting for you." Gabriella said. She took her purse and threw it over her shoulder. She stood up and walked toward Josh, who's back was facing her. She gently took his hand, it was cold. No spark, no rush, no jitters. She quickly pecked his cheek before she walked away. When she turned back on her way to her car, he didn't flinch, he probably didn't even look back.

* * *

**buuurn. haha [: justkidding[: haha. oh, i have question. what song do you think represents troy and gabriella's relationship at this moment? like, i've been thinking of _with you_ by chris brown. and _i've fallen for you_ by jamie rivera, but i feel it's too soft. you know? any suggestions are greatly appreciated[: thanks guys.**

**- xlovelyloserface**


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note**: **Heyhey [: I personally think it hasn't been a long time, since i update right? well, i just finished midterms and this writing this story was a great way to help me procastinate! loll, hopefully i did good on them [: thanks for the reviews! so, here's chapter eleven.**

* * *

Gabriella entered Troy's house looking tired, washed out, and sad. There were still tear stains on her rosy cheeks and her eyes were still wet and watery. The crying had stopped awhile ago but the guilt had continued and wasn't even planning on stopping. She had lost her appetite after her little discussion with Josh and she just wanted to collapse on her bed and go to sleep. She always hated it when she and Josh fought; it was never over something stupid. Their fights always gave Gabriella a glimpse of how upset or sad she would be. Maybe that's why she always came back to him. This time Gabriella was confused why she was crying. Yes, she was upset that Josh was mad at her and they had gotten into this agreement, but this time she wasn't upset as she usually was. Maybe she wasn't as crushed because of Troy, but she shook that idea off.

Gabriella closed the door and threw her keys and purse on the table in the foyer. She could hear the sound of a basketball game and followed the sound into the Living Room. Troy was sitting on the couch, his foot against the coffee table, focused on the basketball game. Isabelle had her two dolls in her hand, she had the jumping and flying off the coffee table onto Troy's cast. Troy occasionally gave Isabelle a smile as she continued her game with her doll's.

Isabella's head shot up when Gabriella immediately stepped into the room. She ran around the coffee table to hug her mom with her big adorable smile. "Hi Mama! I missed you." She said, hugging her mother's legs.

Gabriella gently stroked her daughter's hair. "Hey Belle. I missed you too." She said, crouching down to her daughter's height. "How was your day?" she said, with a weak smile.

Isabelle played with her mother's hair. "It was fun, U-Uncle Troy and I watched B-Barney and D-Dora!" she smiled. "He even played w-with my dolls!"

"Did he? That's nice."

"What's wrong, mama?" she said, cocking her head and looking at her mother's tear-stained face. She frowned a little at her mother and gave her the popular and undeniable 'Montez Pout'. "Were you crying? A-Are you h-hurt?" she asked, her voice sounding a little saddened.

"Yes, I was." Gabriella said, honestly to her three-year old daughter.

Isabelle continued to pout sorrowfully. "Where are y-you hurt?"

Gabriella smiled at the curiosity of her daughter. She pushed away the light brown ringlets away from Isabelle's face. "My heart." She said. Gabriella was never afraid to be honest with her daughter, but when it was hardcore truth like stuff about her father, she had to twist it.

"Can't someone fix it, mama?"

Gabriella smiled and glanced over at Troy. He gave her a smile and a quick wave. Gabriella smiled sweetly back to him. Their eyes were still locked. "Yes, someone can." She said. She turned her focus back on her daughter. "Why don't you continue playing and I'll go talk to Uncle Troy,"

Isabelle nodded and returned to her spot behind the coffee table. Gabriella slowly walked over to the couch where Troy was sitting. She sat next to him and sunk into the couch, tiredly. Her eyes were focused on the game, Blazers versus the Nets. The Nets were leading by eight, but by the Blazer's offense, they'd control the lead in no time. Troy turned to Gabriella and smiled.

"Are you okay?" he whispered.

Gabriella turned to Troy and their eyes connected. She slowly shook her head as the emotions she felt from earlier today returned into her heart. "Josh," she whispered. She rested her head against Troy's chest and let out a few tears.

Troy put his muscular arm around her and rubbed her arm, comfortingly. He shushed her when she continued to sob. Gabriella had missed Troy's comforting hugs and she saw glad to have them back especially at a moment like this in her life. Troy gently kissed her forehead sending sparks through her body. She put her arms around his stomach and hugged him back. She let out a sigh as Troy continued to comfort her.

"I-I don't know what I did, Troy." Gabriella finally said into his shirt. She turned to rest her cheek on his strong chest. "I mean…we love each other…" she said. "I was waiting 'till after our internship and then all of a sudden he thinks I'm not ready. But…" Gabriella trailed off. "I do want to get married; I do…" she whispered. "Now, when I'm ready to get married…he's not…" Gabriella sighed. "I'm just waiting for him now…"

Troy's body froze, remembering his promise to Gabriella about waiting for each other. That's like another of those promises in life he wanted to keep, but he couldn't. At the time, it was the perfect promise to make, but now it was just too unrealistic for them. Troy continued to stroke her hair affectionately. "You shouldn't be crying, Brie. None of it is your fault…"

Gabriella cried a little more. "B-But…why can't he see that I really _do_ love him?" she mumbled softly. "I mean…I don't even know what I mean anymore…" she said with a sigh. "He was mad…and it felt as if he couldn't trust me anymore…"

"Was it because of the magazine?"

Gabriella nodded.

Troy nodded as well. "I mean he does have a reason to be mad…but Gabs, you got to understand that he's only mad and worried because he loves you." He said, having a hard time putting the words together for Gabriella.

Gabriella looked up and smiled at Troy. "Thanks, Troy." She said, as he gently wiped away a few tears. "You were always there for me…except…" Gabriella referred to the incident when Troy mysteriously left.

"Yeah, yeah." Troy laughed. "You know Gabs, you're one of my best friends—"

"Aw," Gabriella said with a bright cutesy smile, making Troy's heart melt. "You're one of my best friends too."

"I just don't wanna see you like this because one, you don't look so hot right of now." Troy said with a smile as Gabriella burst out laughing. "And two, my whole chest is soaked with your tears." He said.

Gabriella threw her head back and laughed. She playfully hit him against his chest. "I hate you, you know that right?" she said with a smile on her soft face.

"I know, I know." He said with a bright smile.

"You don't look so hot yourself, Mr. Bolton." Gabriella said, with a smile.

Troy laughed and rubbed his chin. "Well, you should see me when I come out of the shower," he said, cockily as Gabriella whacked him on the chest again.

* * *

So the holidays passed, quicker than usual. The family spent their Thanksgiving together, simple and small, but most importantly the threesome were with each other. Gabriella had prepared a small meal as Troy and Isabelle set up the decorations. During Christmas, Gabriella and Isabelle went to New York, where most of her family was going in her cousin's penthouse for a small Montez Christmas celebration. The two, well mostly Gabriella enjoyed spending time away from Josh and Troy and spending it with her family and she also enjoyed the snow. Troy stayed in L.A. where most of his family came up to visit because no one wanted Troy to travel in his condition, especially Troy's mother, Amanda. Troy had missed Isabelle and Gabriella's company, because his house was awfully quiet until his family had arrived. Gabriella and Isabelle had returned to L.A. two days before New Years. Isabelle was sad to leave her grandmother but she was excited to return to L.A. because she could spend more time with her acclaimed "funniest uncle".

Gabriella and Isabelle were sitting outside the baggage claim on the LAX airport. Gabriella in her dark jeans and white sweater was walking around the baggage with her phone to her ear. Isabelle was sitting on top of the luggage playing with one of her new Barbie dolls her Aunt Carla had given her for Christmas. Gabriella was listening to her voicemails, since one of her friends were going to pick her up, Taylor.

**(Voicemail)**

**Hey Gabi, it's Taylor. Just calling to wish you a Merry Christmas! Anyways, I'm going to be in L.A. for only two days since I'm returning to Albuquerque to plan the wedding with Chad. Don't worry, I have someone to pick you up from the airport. Call me back so we can discuss bridal things! Bye.**

Gabriella sighed as she made a mental note to call back Taylor when she returned back to Troy's house. She continued listening to the rest of her voicemails.

**Um…hi, Gabriella. It's…Josh, yeah, um, Merry Christmas. I know we haven't talked in awhile…so um, just wanting to see how you are. I miss you. Um, call me back okay? Yeah.**

Gabriella deleted the voicemail. Josh's voice sounded quiet, as if he was whispering into the phone. It sounded almost if Josh didn't want other people to hear. The voicemail was sweet, but it didn't sound real. Gabriella didn't want to find the time to call him back.

Then a taxi pulled up in front of Gabriella and Isabella. Isabella's head shot up and turned toward her mother. Gabriella shrugged and put her phone in her pocket. The driver stepped out of the car to put their luggage into the back of the car. A familiar face stepped out of the taxi and limped over to the pair.

"Uncle Troy!" Isabelle cried, hugging his legs. "I missed you!"

Troy smiled and stroked her curly hair. "I missed you too, buddy." He said, with a sweet smile. "I've got something for you." He said. "Merry Christmas," he said, handing her two boxes that were wrapped under one bright bow.

Isabelle took the bow into her tiny hands and smiled brightly. "Thank you!" she said, hugging his legs even tighter. She released her tiny hands from his legs and slipped into the taxi, so she could open her gifts.

"Hey you," Troy said with his adorable smile. He wrapped his arms around Gabriella sweetly as she slid her arms around his back. He rocked back and forth and kissed her softly on the forehead. "How was your Christmas?" he said, as the two released each other slowly.

"It was nice," Gabriella said with a smile. Her cheeks were a little red from Troy's quick kiss. "I got to spend time with my family. Isabelle really enjoyed it too." She said with a smile. "Thanks for the gift by the way, it wasn't necessary."

Troy chuckled and smiled at her. He crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. "You're only saying that 'cause I didn't get you anything." He said with a smug smile.

Gabriella scoffed and rolled her eyes with a soft smile. "Hey, I didn't get you anything either." She said with a loving smile.

Troy frowned, trying to copy the 'Montez Pout', but was unsuccessful. Gabriella laughed at his attempted. "Nah, I'm just kidding, I did get you something." He said, digging into his back pocket while he still had a smile on his face.

Gabriella looked at him suspiciously, doubting him as he dug into his pocket. Gabriella placed her hands on her hips and gave him a closed lip smile. Troy cupped the present with both hands and held it out to Gabriella. She knit her eyebrows and looked at him, confused and still doubting him. Troy frowned slightly again, attempting to do the pout once again but Gabriella just laughed it off.

"Okay, what is it?" Gabriella finally said, crossing her arms warmly.

Troy flicked his fingers to add effect as Gabriella laughed at his silliness. He smirked when he revealed a white box most likely containing jewelry. He opened the lid and revealed a silver necklace. A half of a heart, the broken kind, was hanging off of it. He moved it closer toward Gabriella and smiled. He pulled it out of the box to show it to Gabriella more closely. She smiled shyly as he revealed it to her. He took it from the box as Gabriella slowly turned around as he clasped the necklace around her neck. Gabriella couldn't help but giggle at the adolescent effect on the necklace.

Gabriella laughed. "Thanks, Troy." She said, holding in her giggles. "It's sweet," she said. She gently touched the half heart that labeled, 'Best' on it. "Where's the other half of the heart?"

Troy smiled as he revealed the other half of the necklace. "See? Best Friends." He said, holding the other half that had 'Friends' on it.

"I love it, but it's kinda…childish." She said, smiling slightly.

Troy pretended to be offended. "Excuse me?" he said, as Gabriella laughed. "Childish?"

Gabriella shrugged. "Childish or child_like_?" she said, raising her eyebrows as she questioned him.

Troy shrugged. "I'd say it's just like kindergarten."

Gabriella couldn't help but smile. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him once again. The two entered into the taxi, with little Isabelle. She sat in between the two, infatuated with the little doll Troy had given her. The driver returned to his seat, started the car, and drove out of their airport.

"Where to, sir?" he asked.

"Oh, um, 531 West Mount Drive." He said, as the driver nodded.

Isabelle played with her doll. "Mama! Look! Isn't she pretty? Like You!" she said, giggling. Her charm reminded Gabriella of Troy's undeniable charm. She definitely got it from him.

Gabriella smiled. "It's lovely,"

"Oh, yeah, Brie, tonight Chad and Taylor are having a New Year's Eve Party, so you wanna head over there tonight?" he said, asking Gabriella.

She nodded. "Sure, is it okay if I take Isabelle too?"

Troy nodded back. "Yeah, I already checked with them, and they're down with it." He said.

A few minutes later they arrived at Troy's house. Gabriella took Isabelle's hand and the two walked toward the house. The driver and Troy went around to the trunk to take the luggage from the trunk. Gabriella and Isabelle were inside the house by the time they were finished.

"Thanks, man." Troy said, patting the guy's back as he handed him the money.

The driver nodded. "No problem. Thank you. Lovely girl you got there and the kid too. Cute family." He said.

"Oh," Troy said, slightly blushing. "S-She's not my girl and the kid's not mine either," he said, smiling. To him, saying those words felt uncomfortable coming out of his lips.

"Oh, sorry. Well, you better get her before it's too late." He said, returning to his taxi and driving off.

"Oh, I'll try." Troy mumbled to himself.

* * *

**yeah, so don't hate since the whole new year's thing and it's like mid-January. loll, sorry! haha [: anyways.**

**- xlovelyloserface**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: I know you all want to shoot me. I haven't update in forever, I know. I'm really really _really_ sorry. I've had this chapter in my head for awhile, and I was finally able to type it up. Thank you so much for the reviews and to _brucas224_ for the song idea! It really goes well, thanks again. [:**

* * *

"Ready?" Troy asked the little three-year old girl. He had a bright grin on his face and his arms open.

Isabelle nodded. She was on the fourth step as Troy as on the main level. Dressed in a violet dress with her hair half up and half down, she was ready to go to. With a bright smile on her face, she was prepared to jump into her father's arms.

Gabriella stood by the door. She was dressed in a turquoise dress that reached her knees and accompanied it with silver heels. She gave Troy a worried look at the stunt he was about to pull with her daughter. She stared at them in worry, her glares were so strong, she could have probably could have burned a hole. She continued to play with the necklace Troy had given her, nervously.

"Troy," Gabriella said, putting on a 'grown-up' voice. "If my baby falls, I will personally have someone eat you." She said, in all seriousness.

Troy smiled at the threat and shook it off. "Don't worry, I'll catch her. Besides, no one can eat me, I'm beastly." He said, as Gabriella smiled and shook her head. He turned back to Isabelle and smile. "Okay, are you ready?"

Isabelle turned to Troy and frowned slightly, her bottom lip quivering. "W-Wait, i-is someone gonna eat U-Uncle Troy?!" she cried, her eyes bugging out of her face.

Troy laughed. "No, your mom was just trying to be funny…" he said, with a smile. "Are you ready, _now_?"

Isabelle nodded excitedly. For the first time in her life, she actually had a father figure. Sure, Josh subbed for a bit, maybe a few hours a week, but he was never there like Troy was for Isabelle. Troy slowly was proving to be the father of Isabelle, maybe because he truly is. She swung her arms happily preparing for her jump, then she turned her face toward her mother. "I-Is it o-okay, mama?"

"Erm," she said, softly. She looked at Troy, who gave her a loving smile. "Yeah, it's just fine." She said, with a nod.

Isabelle smiled happily. She swung her arms and jumped off the step. Troy caught her quickly, under her arms and swung her around. Isabelle let out giggles like crazy as Troy put her down. She wrapped her arms around his legs and smiled.

"Can I jump again?!" she cried, happily.

Troy smiled and bent down to her height. "Ah, I don't think so, kiddo. We have to get going to the party, remember? How about when we get home." he said.

Isabelle nodded and walked toward her mother, who held her coat. Gabriella put the coat on her daughter. The family got their things together and headed into the car. Gabriella placed Isabelle in her car seat then returned to the passenger's seat. Troy, who was in the driver's seat, started the car and they left the Bolton residence.

* * *

"Gabby!" Taylor cried as she wrapped her arms around her best friend once she entered the house. "How are you?" she asked, with a big smile. Dressed in a purple short sleeved dressed that hung over her knees and a typical matching headband, Taylor greeted her guests.

"Oh, I'm great. How are you?" Gabriella asked with a smile, as she looked at the Danforth's large house. It was brightly decorated supporting the New Year's Eve Theme. "Wow, looks bigger then I remember," she said with a laugh.

Taylor smiled and nodded. "I'll take that as a compliment I guess…" she said, with a subtle smile. She spotted Isabelle and smiled at her cute little face. "Oh, hey Isabelle!" she said, looking at Gabriella's daughter.

"Auntie Tay!" she said, hugging her legs.

Taylor smiled. "How are you munchkin?" she said, with a grin, stroking her curly light brown hair.

Isabelle frowned. "I-I'm not a donut or a little man made of shi!" she cried, a little defensive as she crossed her arms. She definitely took in what Sharpay had been teaching her, which sometimes weren't so great for a little three-year old girl.

Taylor knit her eyebrows in confusion and turned to Gabriella, who just shrugged it off but still kept a small smile. "Oh, I'm sorry, honey…I didn't know you didn't like them." She said, tapping her shoulder.

"Hey, guys." Troy said, just stepping into the house after parking the car. He gave Taylor and quick hug and smiled back.

"Hey, superstar." Chad asked, swooping in for Isabelle and picking her up, holding her on his hip. He smiled brightly at the three-year old. "Hey Gabs," he said, hugging her. "Hey, Troy." Chad said, pounding fists with his best friend. He turned to the little girl

Isabelle giggled happily as she was distracted by Chad's crazy locks. "Thsuper!" she said, giggling. "Mama, his hairs not long anymore! Where did it go?"

Chad sighed and rolled his eyes. "Well…Auntie Tay made me cut it…for the wedding…" he said, even though he still maintained an afro, it wasn't as crazy as it usually was. He gave Taylor a mockingly mean glare, who just laughed.

"Auntie Tay!" Isabelle frowned. "I l-liked it b-big and long! It was berry pretty. It was like a…bolcaynoe." She said, throwing her arms in the air for the effect of an eruption as the adults laughed at her cuteness.

"Yeah, maybe with this haircut, Chad will be able to work on his defense," Troy joked as his friend jokingly punched him in the arm.

Chad chuckled. "Well, man, if we played one on one, you'd notice my defense is killer now." He said, with a smug grin as the two guys walked out of the girls' presence.

"How's wedding planning going?" Gabriella asked with a smile to her best friend.

Taylor shook her head and widened her eyes. "It's crazy." She whispered. "But all in all, it's so hectic. Dresses here, flowers there, guests over there, and tons of croutons!" she said, shaking her head as she looked up to the ceiling.

Gabriella knit her eyebrows. "Um…croutons?"

"Croutons." Taylor said, shaking her head once more. "There's so many kinds! The chef he's so precise. Do I want it with butter or vegetable oil? Maybe some parsley or…lemon, but Chad doesn't like lemon…" Taylor said, fluttering her eyes, tiredly. "It's crazy. If no lemon, then maybe they'll be lightly roasted or we could use wheat instead of white bread…" she sighed.

Gabriella laughed at her friend's overreaction. "It's fine, it's not a big deal, it's just a bump on the road that you're going through…that you just happen to multiply over a thousand times," she said, laughing slightly.

Then the doorbell rang. Taylor went to the peephole to look for the incoming guest. "Oh, you'll love who's arriving." She said, with a smirk.

Gabriella knit her eyebrows. "Who is it? Tay, if it's Josh I will personally have someone eat y—" she was cut off by the familiar face at the door as Taylor opened it.

"Allie." Taylor said, with a smile, hugging her. "So nice of you to come," she said.

Allie smiled politely. Her short blonde hair was wavy, surrounding her circular face. Her make-up was neatly done, making her eyes vivid and bright. She was in a gold cocktail dress with a black bow under her bust. Of course, she looked like a model. "Thank you for inviting me," she said, smiling. "Lovely house," she said. Her green eye met Gabriella's chocolate brown. "Um, Gabriella, hi." She said, with a genuine smile as she slightly hugged her.

"Hey, Allie. How are you?" she said, crossing her arms over her chest, gracefully.

"Oh, I'm fine…" she said, with a soft smile. "How are you?"

Gabriella shrugged slightly. "Oh, I'm alright." She said, chuckling awkwardly.

Taylor felt a little awkward with these two girls by her side. She cleared her throat and awkward silence surrounded them. They eyeballed the room slowly, trying to avoid making any other awkward conversation.

"So, um, how's work?" Gabriella piped up with a soft smile.

Allie smiled. "Um, it's good. I recently did a photoshoot with H&M and Guess?" she said. "Yeah, so what about you?"

"Work's stressful…a little…you know how it is." Gabriella smiled.

"Well…it was nice seeing you, I'll let you guys chat." Allie said, with a tight lipped smile before she walked off into the living room where most of the guests were.

Gabriella looked at Taylor with wide bugging eyes of annoyance. "Taylor, I hate you."

She smiled, "I know."

* * *

"How about some karaoke?" Taylor said, talking into the microphone by her large-screen TV.

Her guests cheered in agreement and they all scanned the room for victims.

"Well, to start off the night, I'd like to call up Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez." She said, as her guests cheered.

"Oh, Tay," Gabriella mumbled, crossing her arms. "Oh, Gosh." She said.

Isabella tugged her mother's arms. "Mama! It's you! It's you!" she cried, jumping up and down happily. "It's you! You!"

Gabriella blushed. "I know, sweetie. I-I'll be right back." She said, weaving through the crowd of guests. She walked up next to Taylor with an awkward smile. "I hate you, Tay," she whispered. "I really do," she said.

Taylor smirked and cocked her head. "Where's Troy Bolton?" she cried into the mic. "Did you guys know, these kids met through karaoke? Cool, huh?" she said, aloud.

Troy walked up to Taylor with an embarrassed and unsure look on his face. "Tay…I-I don't know about this…I haven't sung in years…" he confessed to her.

Gabriella smiled. "Yeah, and singing in the shower doesn't count." Gabriella said to her best friend.

Taylor rolled her eyes. "Oh please," she said, flicking her wrist in the air. She handed them both mics. "Have fun, kids." She said, smirking."

The two looked at each other embarrassed. They held the microphones awkwardly as the intro of the song began to play. Gabriella chuckled in embarrassment.

"Um." Troy said into the microphone. "Be aware, I haven't sung in years, but Brie's a killer." He said, turning to her.

Gabriella slightly rolled her eyes and smiled.

(_**Bold**__**together**__ italics Gabriella_, _underline Troy_)

_It's gonna be me, baby_

_It's gonna be you, baby_

Gabriella sung, having the feeling of déjà vu again. She smiled back at Troy as the music played in the background. He smiled and winked back and turned back to the guests. He looked for Allie in the crowd, but he couldn't find her.

_It's time, I've been patient for so long_

_How can I pretend to be so strong?_

_Looking at you, baby_

_Feeling it too, baby_

Troy smiled, knowing that the lyrics he just sung were true. He did really wait for her. He secretly hoped Gabriella meant what she sung too.

_If I'm asking you to hold me tight_

_Then it's gonna be alright_

Gabriella said, seeing Taylor and Chad smile happily at each other with their arms around each other. She smiled.

_It's gonna be love, it's gonna be great_

_It's gonna be more than I can take_

_It's gonna be free, it's gonna be real_

_**It's gonna change everything I feel,**_

_**It's gonna be sad, it's gonna be true**_

_It's gonna be me, baby_

_It's gonna be you, baby_

_It's gonna be…it's gonna be love_

Gabriella smiled at the words Troy just sang. She slightly chuckled as the song continued to play. The guests cheered happily.

_Times in my restless you're a fool_

_How can you pretend to be so cruel?_

_Maybe it's me, baby_

_Maybe it's true, baby_

_Maybe it's everything we're dreaming of_

_We've waited long enough_

When Troy sang that last line, he was looking her straight in the eye. Gabriella had lost her breath and almost forgot to sing the next line.

_It's gonna be love, it's gonna be great_

_It's gonna be more than I can take _

_**It's gonna be real, it's gonna be free**_

_**It's gonna change everything I feel**_

_**It's gonna be sad, it's gonna be true**_

_It's gonna be me, baby, it's gonna be you, baby_

_It's gonna be…it's gonna be love_

Troy smiled at Gabriella, he meant every word he sang and he hoped she knew that he really did mean it.

_The sooner you let to hearts beat together_

_The sooner you'll know this love is forever_

_**It's gonna be love**_

_Love needs time now or never_

_**It's gonna be love**_

_It's gonna be tough, you gotta believe_

_**It's gonna be strong enough**_

Gabriella smiled, surprised she actually hit that note. She smirked at Troy. The song ended and the two of them smiled at each other as the crowd cheered happily for them. Troy walked up to Gabriella and smiled.

He stuck out his hand and smiled. "Troy," he said.

Gabriella laughed and took his hand and shook it. "Gabriella," she giggled. "Déjà vu," she smiled.

Too bad these kids didn't notice a familiar blonde walking out during the chorus.

* * *

"Mama! You were great!" Isabella said, hugging her mom tightly, as Gabriella held her. "You too Uncle Troy," she said, squeezing one of his cheeks.

Troy rubbed his red cheeks. "Thanks, Belle." He said, chuckling.

"But you're not as pwetty," she admitted.

The adults laughed at the three-year olds cute comment.

"TEN…NINE…EIGHT…SEVEN…SIX…FIVE…FOUR…THREE…TWO…ONE!" the whole crowd cheered happily as Isabella made squeaky noises with her noise maker. The guests cheered happily, hugging and smiling at each other.

"Happy New Year, Isabella." Gabriella said, kissing her daughter on the cheek.

"H-Happy New Year, Mama!" she said, wrapping her tiny arms around her mother's neck.

Troy smiled. "Happy New Year, Belle." He said, as Isabella reached her arms out for him and he held her against his side.

"H-Happy New Year, Uncle Troy!" she giggled.

"Happy New Year, Brie."

Gabriella smiled. "Happy New Year, Troy." She said, slowly leaning in toward him.

Their faces were close, inches apart. Isabella, in Troy's arms, watched in silence. They leaned in closer, feeling each other's breath. Gabriella broke out into a smile. Troy slightly brushed his lips against hers and they instantly felt sparks surging through their bodies. Gabriella looked into his icy blue eyes, as her fingers ran down the side of his face

And she slowly kissed him on the cheek.

She pivoted and walked away.

Troy stood there with his daughter, in disappointment.

* * *

**Yeah, bummer. It gets bettter, I promise. I think two more chapters until they get married, 'kay? Okay. **

**- xlovelyloserface**


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note:** **Hello :) Yes, I know it's been awhile, but you gotta understand! I've been all over my school work because they were going to kick me out of honors since I have an 87. That sucks. Anyways, here's Chapter 13, there's not much to it, just a base and understanding of their understanding of each other, I guess. So, yeah. Thanks for the reviews! :)**

* * *

Gabriella Montez tied her short dark curly hair into a pony tail with a few wisps hanging. She tucked them behind her ear. She checked her watch as she walked down the hallways of the hospital. It was only 1:34 PM. Gabriella rolled up the yellow sleeves from under her blue uniform. Walking in her comfy sneakers she reached the information desk, where Clarisse was sitting. She sat behind the desk, her blonde hair half-up and half-down, typing on the computer.

"Hey," Gabriella said, with a smile, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned against the desk. She went on her tippy toes.

Clarisse smiled. "Hey, what's up?" she said, as she picked at a few papers on the desk.

Gabriella shrugged. "Nothing." She said, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "You know, how in some television shows there's always drama every two seconds and there's like crazy make-out sessions in the supply closet?" she said, as Clarisse nodded. "It's not like that at all here."

Clarisse chuckled. "Well, there's drama every minute or two and we don't make-out in the closet, that's _so_ last year. The janitor's closet's where it's at," she said, winking jokingly.

Gabriella and she laughed together. "Really?" Gabriella said, smiling. "'Cause when me and Josh were, _you know_, we'd always make-out in the room of patient's who just came out of surgery," she said. "You know, all dozed off…"

Clarisse and Gabriella threw their heads back and laughed.

"Good choice," she said, with a smile. "How is that, by the way? I mean like…you guys and…"

Gabriella fluttered her eyelids and shrugged. "I-I actually don't know right now. We haven't talked much in weeks," she said. "I mean, maybe a few 'Hey, how are you?' and sometimes 'Oh, how's it going'?" she said, sighing. "Nothing new happened." She said, with a shrug.

"Ever since Mr. Hottie-Basketball-superstar came to town," Clarisse said, with a smirk.

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "He's always _been_ in town," she said.

"Who cares, Gabriella? He's hot, ha-awt." She said, saying the words slowly. "You guys still hooking up in the house?" she said, with a wink.

Gabriella gasped and whacked Clarisse in the arm. "Clarisse, we _do_ not hook-up…okay, maybe…no, um, we don't. We just live together,"

"Oh please, you do much _more_ then live together. You guys are a hook-up waiting to happen," she said, with a smug look on her face. "It's like putting two horny dogs of the opposite sex together,"

Gabriella scoffed. "Clarisse! We're just raising our child…" she said, trailing off with her words.

"Oh, you admit it!" she squealed. "Ah, he's the daddy." She said, clapping her hands excitedly. "So, you're living with your daughter's daddy who you _don't_ hook-up with, but you know you want to? Darling, that's a sin."

Gabriella laughed.

Josh walked up to the desk and awkward silence surrounded them. He cleared his throat and placed a patient's clipboard on the desk. He put his hands in his pockets than nervously ran his other hand through his short blonde hair.

"Um, hey Gabriella, Clarisse," he said, with a nod to acknowledge them both. He inhaled sharply. "Um, how are you…all?"

"Good." Clarisse said, with a small smile.

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah, just fine. You?"

"I-I'm doing fairly well…" he said, with a nod. "The clipboards the latest updates from Brendan Tindol, the boy that swallowed a nickel."

Gabriella and Clarisse pulled their heads back.

"Oh my gosh," Gabriella said.

Clarisse made an extreme face. "Oh…wow. That dude's intense, maybe I'll go hang out with him during my next lunch break," she said, with a shrug as Gabriella laughed. "How's he doing?"

"He's keeping up, he's a good kid. I feel bad for his family, his older brother visits him all the time." Josh sighed.

Clarisse smiled. "Really?" she said, raising her eyebrow curiously. "Mm, maybe I'll hang out with that kid now…" she said, jumping up from her seat and leaving the desk.

Josh cleared his throat and nodded at the awkward silence. "So, Gabs, um…are you going away for a few weeks or something?"

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "I'm going back to Albuquerque for Taylor and Chad's wedding in about a week. I'm the maid of honor," she said, clasping her hands.

"Ah," he said. "That's nice."

"Um, yeah." Gabriella mumbled.

Josh nodded, awkwardly. "What about your basketball buddy, Troy?" he said, with a soft smile.

Gabriella leaned against the desk again and put on a soft smile. She tucked the wisps behind her ear and crossed her arms again. "Ah, he's coming too. He's best friends with Chad." Gabriella said, pursing her lips.

"How's he doing, with the leg? And basketball?"

Gabriella shrugged. "Um, well…he's been good…he stopped using the crutches, but there's a small limp when he walks, he's been good. I-I don't know about basketball yet…we haven't talked about that we just kinda…yeah…"

Suddenly, Gabriella's beeper lit up. _Thank God,_ she said to herself. She smiled and checked the beeper. She looked at Josh and smiled slightly. "I gotta go, see you later."

"Yeah…see you later…" he said, with a sense of confusion in his voice.

* * *

"Gabs, it feels great to be in Albuquerque!" Sharpay said, over the other line of the phone. "It's crazy coming back here. I can't wait until you come down. You should see the wedding gifts for the guest, they are ah-dorable," Sharpay said, squealing slightly.

Gabriella laughed as she held the phone to her ear. "Yeah," she said, chuckling. "I'm really excited to come back down. I can't wait to see my mom…ah, I miss her so much. I bet you picked out those gifts, huh?"

Sharpay laughed. "How did you know?" she said. "Stop stalking me, okay?" she said, jokingly. "How's the baby and her daddy?"

"They're good," she said, rolling her eyes. "They're seriously like best friends. I mean, they're so close…Bella only wants Troy to pour her lemonade into her cup. And she never lets me pick out her pajamas anymore, only he can. It's ridiculous," Gabriella sighed.

Sharpay laughed. "Aw!" she said, squealing slightly. "Ah, Oh my Gosh, they have a total father-daughter bond. How cute," she squeaked. "Oh, gosh, I'd love to see it in person when you come down here."

"Oh, goodness, no. The cuteness would make you explode." She said, sighing.

"Oh yeah, how are you and her daddy? You love seeing him coming out of the shower, don't you?" Sharpay said, with a laugh.

"Oh Gosh, why does everyone bring that up?" Gabriella whispered, putting her hand over her mouth when she whispered into her cell phone.

Sharpay scoffed. "Oh please, Gabs, you guys live together, you had _history_ together, you had a baby together…well one of you…but I can smell the chemistry from all the way in New Mexico."

"Then you must not be that far away," Gabriella said, laughing. "Listen, the plane's about to set off, so I'll call you right when we land. Okay?" Gabriella said, "Okay, bye." She said, shutting her cell phone.

"Sharpay?" Troy asked, as he buckled his seat belt on the plane.

Gabriella smiled and nodded. She sat on the seat toward the window, with little Isabella in the middle, and Troy had the aisle seat. Isabella, who had her whole hand inside a pack of gummy worms, were chewing on them furiously. She also had her favorite book, _Cat In the Hat_, on her lap.

"Bella, baby…um, you don't want cavities, do you, baby?" she said, sweetly to her daughter as she stroked her curly hair.

Isabella had in her sticky fingers in her mouth and shook her head slowly. She frowned slowly and her soft eyes widened.

"Well," Gabriella said, with a smile. "Then you should stop eating those worms Uncle Troy gave you…okay?" she said, sweetly. She shot her head up and narrowed her eyes at Troy. "'Cause that was a very bad idea giving it to a little three-year old," she said, sternly.

Troy shot his head back and threw his hands in the air. "I do not know what you are talking about," he said, shaking his head. "I don't recall buying those gummy worms," he said, pinching a couple into his palm.

"Troy!" Gabriella said. She wanted to smack him, but she refrained from doing so due to the little girl sitting between them. "When she gets a cavity, you are paying for the bills," she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"You are such a mom." Troy said, putting his hands behind his head. He smirked and turned to Gabriella. "A hot one to say the least,"

Gabriella threw her head back and laughed. She turned and smiled. "Thanks…I guess…" she said, rolling her eyes.

"Isabella agrees," Troy said, smiling at the girl. "Don't you think your mama is a very pretty lady?" he said, wiggling his eyebrows at Gabriella.

She felt a blush creep onto her cheeks. She smiled as she used her hand to cover her head. "Troy…" she said, in a sing-song voice.

Isabella nodded and stuffed a few more neon gummy worms into her small mouth. "Mama's bery pretty," Isabella cried.

"Mm, she's got your charm," Gabriella wanted to say that to Troy, but she bit her lip. Gabriella shook her head in embarrassment. "Thanks, sweetie…" Gabriella said, with a nod. She reached into her purse and pulled out a tissue. She folded it up an wiped the corners of Isabelle's mouth.

Troy widened his eyes and put his hands over his cheeks. "Ah, Gabs, you are such a mom…" he said.

Gabriella stuck out her tongue.

"Oh, very mature, Gabs." Troy said, laughing. He rolled his dark eyes and smiled at her. He rested his arms on the armrest and smiled.

Gabriella smiled back and she felt chills run from her toes to her spine and to her neck. She scratched the back of her neck and she blushed once again. "Bella, put your seatbelt on, we're about to fly off."

"Mama," Isabella said, as Troy put on her seatbelt.

"_Welcome aboard Allwood Airlines, Flight 183A to New Mexico. My name is Cole Anthony Thompson, your captain. We will arrive in New Mexico approximately…um, 5:20-ish…"_ the captain said over the intercom. "_well, please pay your undivided attention to the video playing for airline safety. The flight attendants are there to assist you…have a wonderful flight and thank you for flying with Allwood—we're always there." _He said.

"See? We're leaving," Gabriella said, sighing.

"Mama," Isabella said, pouting. She held her tiny hands in the air to prove that they were sticky. "Mama, I n-need a n-napkin, pwease." She said, pouting once again.

Gabriella smiled and began to search into her purse for a napkin, but she was unsuccessful no matter how many times she dug into that large bag. She looked up at Isabella and smiled.

"Oh, that was my last napkin, baby." She said.

"Here you go, sweetie." One of the flight attendants said, bending her knees to see Isabella. She handed her a folded white napkin and smiled.

"T-Thank you," Isabella said, taking it happily. She wiped her hands quickly and she wiped her sticky face.

"Aw, she's so precious," the flight attendant said, smiling. "What a lovely little girl you to have, you must be very lucky." She said.

Gabriella and Troy immediately blushed, with only one of them knowing the truth. Gabriella looked down at her back.

"Um, thanks." Troy said, with a proud smile.

Gabriella shot her head up to look at time, surprised he actually didn't deny his own child. She smiled to herself as the lady walked away. And they didn't bring that subject up throughout the whole flight.

An hour into the flight, Isabella was fast asleep. Her chubby face against Troy's muscular arm and her mouth was hanging slightly open. She breathed softly.  
Her eyes fluttered from time to time, but she remained calm. It didn't take much to get her to sleep, since the sugar rush had died down quickly. The ride was quiet, not much was said since they were watching the cartoons playing. Gabriella rested her head against the window, listening to the sound of the airplane. Troy leaned against his arms and smiled. Gabriella turned to her daughter and smiled as she sat there.

"I'm kinda jealous," Gabriella admitted softly as she watched her daughter.

Troy's head perked up and he turned to Gabriella. "Hm?"

"I'm kinda jealous." Gabriella said, again with a small smile on her face as she ran her fingers through her daughter's hair. "She rather sleep on your shoulder then on mine," Gabriella said, chuckling.

Troy laughed. "Yeah, I know…I'm just _so_ great." He said, shrugging his shoulders as Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," Gabriella mumbled. "Want to play a game?" she said, out of the short silence. She turned to Troy and shrugged.

Troy shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Truth."

Troy knit his eyebrows and cocked his head. "Truth? What is that…like a girl game or something?"

Gabriella laughed. "It's like Truth and Dare, but only truth." She said, with a shrug. "I'll go first. Do you think you're gonna walk ever again? I mean like, basketball…running…you know." she asked.

Troy pulled his head back and acted surprised. "Wow, Montez, pulling a killer right there…" he said, holding his chest. "Yikes…that's tough."

"You wanted to play," she said. "So, that kinda means you need to answer the question. If you don't want to, then I win."

"Alright then, I don't know. I'm not sure about basketball…I mean, I can hardly run and I still limp…but I'd love to play basketball again." He said, with a nod in a serious tone. "Seems like four and half seasons are good enough, but…you know." He said, with a nod.

Gabriella nodded understandingly. "I get it."

"What about you…? Hm…Why aren't you wearing your ring?" Troy asked, looking at her. He looked into her dark eyes, almost searching for an answer.

Gabriella bit her lip and shrugged. "It doesn't feel right."

"You're engagement?"

She fluttered her eyelashes. "No…ever since we fought…it doesn't feel right that I wear it on my hand," Gabriella admitted. She pulled the ring, which was hanging on a silver necklace hiding under her shirt. "It just doesn't feel right. You know? When you _think_ something's…so right and so perfect…but when you actually have it, you're like, 'What the heck is this'?" She looked at the ring, and twirled it between her two fingers. She looked back up at Troy and gave him a tight lipped smile. "You know?"

"I get it." He said, nodding. "It's like craving for that amazing action figure that the television commercial claims is so…amazing and so perfect, yet, once you finally receive it on your 10th birthday from your Godmother, and you open the box, you're surprised. Almost disappointed since, the cape is broken, the sword is dented, and those catch phrases suck." He said, smiling.

Gabriella laughed and turned to face him. She had a big grin on her face and she could feel the tingles at the bottom of her toes. "You get me."

"Yeah." Troy said, in the silence. "Um, your turn."

Gabriella nodded. She smiled to herself, making Troy shift in his seat and laughing. "Okay, what's the deal with Allie Davidson? Full detail story, mister." She said, smiling.

Troy sighed heavily and stroked his chin. "Wow, Montez, tryin' to kill me, huh? Well…we met at a charity event for lung cancer about a year ago. My cousin—"

"Nicholas." Gabriella cut in.

Troy smiled. "Yeah, Nicholas, he died from cancer three years ago. So, I was a spokesperson for about two years for them. And Allie had just become another spokesperson. So, we met backstage for the first time since we were Emcees together for the event. It was like this whole amusement park fundraiser thing and we just talked. We exchanged numbers and we started hanging out a couple of times." He said, as if it was a simple thing.

"Then you went out?" Gabriella asked, crossing her arms around her chest.

Troy shook his head. "No, she was dating this guy…"

"Lee Pace, I love him. He's from _Pushing Daisies_, I love him." She said, with a smile, laughing slightly. **(I LOVE Pushing Daisies!)**

Troy laughed. "Yeah, him. So, I guess it was about…three months since we met and they broke up. So, we started hanging out again and two months later, I asked her out. We've been dating ever since." Troy said with a nod.

"Mm." Gabriella said, rolling her eyes. "What's the story, _now_."

Troy shrugged. "I…actually don't know. We've been on breaks for a couple times, you know due to our schedules and…obstructions but…she's just been chill lately." He shrugged again. "But, yeah. I actually don't know where we stand."

"I get it."

"I knew you would," he smiled.

* * *

**Remember how I said 'they' would get married in two more chapters? I meant Chad and Taylor, and I lied. Maybe two starting from this chapter :) Sorry! Thanks for the reviews once again.**

**- xlovelyloserface**


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: Hey guys! Hopefully, I didn't keep you guys waiting for too long. Don't worry, this chapter isn't a filler or whatever like the last, it's a little more interesting...yeah. :) anyways, hahaha. Thanks for the reviews! They're great :)**

"Gabby! Baby, I missed you so much!" Clara Montez cried as she saw her petite daughter come through the front door. She threw her arms around her and held her close as they both smiled happily. "How are you?" she said, as the two rocked back and forth, before they released each other.

"I'm good, how are you?" she said, holding her mother's hand. She smiled so much once she saw her mother, her cheeks began to hurt.

A smiled appeared on her mother's soft face. "I'm doing good. Look at you," she said, touching Gabriella's hair. "You look wonderful," she said, with a smile.

"As do you, mother." She laughed. "This place hasn't changed," she said, looking around the house.

Clara smiled. "Good, I didn't want it like that,"

Isabelle ran up the pavement, hopped up the stairs before the front door, and flew into her Grandmother's arms. "Graaandmaa!" she cried, wrapping her arms around Clara's neck. "Guess what?" she said.

Clara smiled and looked at her. "What?"

"W-well, M-Mama a-and Uncle T-Troy, a-and me, we went on a plane! It h-had food a-and cool s-stuff." She said, nodding her head excitedly.

Clara laughed. "Well, isn't that something?" she said, laughing at them.

Troy, walked into the house, with all the luggage around his arms. He place them on the ground and let out a tired sigh.

"Well, that would be your workout for today," Clara laughed. "Come here, Troy," she said, hugging him as she tried to balance Isabella. "How are you?" she said, once they released.

"I'm doing good." He said, with a nod. "How are you?"

"Great. Great." She said, with a smile. "Put all your stuff away," she directed the two. "Guests are coming over."

Gabriella knit her eyebrows. "Ma? We just got here and…I smell like airplane, it's not very pleasing."

"You never smell pleasing," Troy joked as Gabriella playfully pushed him.

Clara smiled at the two. "Alright then, it's settled. Guests will arrive in an hour and a half, so you all better get going," she said, directing them.

Troy sighed and began to take all the bags upstairs as Clara, Gabriella, and Isabella went into the kitchen. Clara opened up one of the cabinets and handed Isabella a bag of gummy worms. Gabriella frowned when she saw this.

"Mooom," she cried. "It's not good for her teeth,"

Isabelle took the bag gratefully, ripped it open, and began to stuff the neon colored gummies into her mouth. She ignored the adults, since she was infatuated with the candy.

"So?" Clara said. "What's wrong with spoiling her a little?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes as Clara poured some coffee into a few mugs. She handed Gabriella a cup and sipped her own. "How are you and Troy?"

"We're fine."

"I meant as two people living together who aren't in a relationship," Clara said, looking up from her coffee.

Gabriella sighed. "Mom, honestly, we're fine. You don't have to worry about a thing," she said, sipping her coffee as she put another hand over her stomach.

Clara gasped. "Gabby!" she cried, her eyes widened. She held her hand over her mouth and gasped. "Oh, Gabby!"

Gabriella knit her eyebrows in confusion and backed away from her mother. "W-What?" she said.

"I knew it! I knew it ever since the day you moved in," Clara said, shaking her head. She narrowed her eyes and shook her head. "That's why you moved in, huh? You think I couldn't tell, did you? Why didn't you just tell me?" she rambled, throwing one hand in the air.

"Tell you about…what?" Gabriella said, putting her mug on the counter. She put her weight against the counter and looked at her mother confused and afraid.

Clara shook her head. "That you're…" she peeked over at her granddaughter, hoping she didn't notice, but luckily enough, Isabella didn't care. "Pregnant," she mouthed to her daughter.

Gabriella scoffed. "Mom!" she cried. "I'm not…" she looked over at Isabella. "Pregnant," she whispered. "Why would you think that?"

Clara bit her lip. "Oh, sorry. It's just that…you guys live together, he _is_ the…" she looked over at Isabelle. "father," she whispered. "And you guys were on that ridiculous magazine,"

"Ma, if I was, which I'm not, I would have told you." Gabriella said, in a soft and sincere voice.

"Okay," Clara said, softly. "Go upstairs and take a shower, the guests are coming soon. I'll stay here with Belle," she said.

Gabriella smiled. "It's as if I still live here," Gabrielle said, when she walked to the stairs.

"You still do," Clara said.

Gabriella jogged up the stairs and reached the second floor. She smiled to herself, glad to be back at her old house. She walked into her old room, it was still the same since she left it the day before college. Pale pink it remained, nothing changed. She walked over to her desk. Pictures of herself with Taylor, Sharpay, and Kelsi were still scattered all over the wall. She especially laughed at the picture of Sharpay's impersonation of Taylor, Taylor's impersonation of Gabriella, and Gabriella's impersonation of Sharpay. On her desks, her notebooks were neatly piled up. A frame was flat against the desk and the picture inside it was not visible. Gabriella reached over it and picked it up.

It was a picture of her and Troy. It was the two of them, with their arms around each other after reuniting at Lava Springs. Instead of returning it to it's original position, Gabriella decided to put the picture up.

She turned to her bed, which had her luggage upon it and opened it up. She walked across the hall and opened the door of the bathroom. It was a little misty and steam was coming out of the shower, but Gabriella didn't notice if anyone was there. She opened up the closet and pulled out a towel. She heard the shower open and she turned around.

It was Troy. Naked.

"Ah!" Gabriella screamed, jumping. She turned around and buried her face in the towel. "Oh my god, Troy, I am so, _so_, sorry, I should have knocked," she apologized, her back facing him. She wasn't _that_ sorry, since Troy was naked and his six pack was glistening with water.

"Um, it's okay. I should have locked the door. Uh, Gabs, can I use the towel?" he said.

Gabriella blushed, but was glad Troy didn't see her. She threw the towel behind her and buried her face in her hands and began to chuckle. "I'm really sorry." She said.

"It's okay," Troy said. "You can turn around."

Gabriella did.

His body was amazing. His six packs were dripping wet, his muscular arms glistened, and his hair covered his eyes as a towel covered his bottom half. He had a smirk on his face and laughed.

"You like?" he joked, as he winked at Gabriella.

Gabriella rolled her eyes and laughed as she took the towel hanging from the bar in the bathroom and threw it at Troy. "Shut up," she mumbled, knowing she was lying. "I'll go now."

"Good idea,"

* * *

"How do you like those Crab Bites, Sharpay?" Clara asked, as she held a plate of those tiny bright hors d'oeuvres as if she was a waitress at a catered party.

Sharpay held it and smiled, as she swallowed. "They're great, Clara, did you make them yourself?"

Clara nodded and smiled.

"No wonder, they're great," Sharpay giggled as Clara smiled a thank-you and walked away. She turned to Gabriella and smiled. "You're mom is so cute," she said, with a smile.

Gabriella smiled and raised her eyebrows. "Um, thanks. You should have heard what she said to me today."

"What?" Sharpay asked, before she took a bite into the hors d'oeuvres.

"She assumed I was pregnant because I was living with Troy." Gabriella said, with a nod.

Sharpay gasped and hit Gabriella's arm. "I knew it! I knew it!" she whisper-shouted, as she smacked Gabriella's arm again. "I knew it, I knew it," she said, her brown eye growing big. "There was totally something behind it all."

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Okay, stop, Shar," she said, crossing her arms. "I'm not, we're not, and nothing's happening." She said, slowly, as if she was a little child.

"You just wish there _was_ something happening." Sharpay said, with a smile. "Oh, I also have ah-mazing news for you," she said, with a big toothy smile on her face.

Gabriella smiled, "What happened?" she said.

"I'm pregnant!" she cried, her brown eyes widening with excitement as she threw her hands up.

"Oh my god! Shar, this is amazing! Congratulations!" she said, wrapping her arms around her friend. "When did this happen?"

Sharpay shrugged. "I don't know, I think when I came back to New York, from L.A., but I found out two weeks ago, I'm a month along." She said, clapping her hands excitedly.

Gabriella smiled brightly, genuinely excited. "Wow, this is amazing. Shar, you have no idea what power you hold in having this baby," she said, honestly. "It's truly amazing." She said.

"I know," Sharpay said, with a small happy frown on her face. "I was so scared at first! Zeke's so excited, he keeps coming up with all these recipes for the baby, it's so cute." She giggled.

"Aw," Gabriella smiled. "What about the Broadway career?"

"Well, I'm doing a month and a half left of shows, but then I'm coming to L.A. to guest star on some television shows and then I'll just stay in New York, with this baby." She said, touching her stomach it's so great.

Suddenly all the guest flocked to the front door. The guest of honor, Taylor and Chad arrived. They had bright smiles on their faces as they held hands. The guests all greeted them excitedly.

"They're here!" Sharpay said, as she grabbed Gabriella's hand and pulled her toward them.

"Hi guys!" Taylor said, wrapping her arms around the two girls. "Ah, how are you?" she said, with a big smile on her face.

"We're good, how're you?" Sharpay said, excitedly.

Taylor smiled. "Great, great, wedding stuff."

"We have so much to tell you!" Sharpay cried, excitedly.

Taylor turned to Gabriella and cocked an eyebrow. "_We_?" she said, giving Gabriella a suspicious look.

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "She speaks for herself," she said, with a smile.

* * *

Troy was sitting on the couch, with a large mint green scrapbook in his hand. He flipped through the pictures, always with a smile on his face. To his surprise, out of all the millions of scrapbooks Clara had, he picked the one of him and Gabriella. After all these years, she kept the scrapbook filled with memories of Troy and Gabriella.

These pictures were almost a timeline, showing the two of them. Pictures of the two of them after the Callbacks, together at a picnic, the two of them at the opening night of _Twinkle Town_, and their summer together, filled the pages. There were numerous pictures of their graduation, their dates, the dinners with their families, and some pictures from their college years. Troy couldn't help but smile. He missed that. He missed her.

As he flipped through the pages, the pictures came to an end. Troy was slightly disappointed, hoping there was more. He turned to the next page and to his surprise, it was Gabriella—when she was pregnant.

Troy couldn't take his eyes off these photos; he longed to know more about her pregnancy. There were pictures of her picking out baby clothes, looking at sonograms, smiling at her baby shower, and copies of the sonograms too. But not once, did the father's face appear in any of these pictures. He arrived at the section of the scrapbook, when Gabriella was in labor. She was sitting on a hospital bed, sweaty, with a smile with Isabelle in her arms.

Troy smiled, she was beautiful. On white paper in lovely font, 'Isabelle Alexa Montez' was written, but the ends seemed to be folded. He frowned and slid his hand under the covering to fix it. He picked up the paper and held it in his hands. He was surprised to see another half covered. He unfolded it.

Isabelle Alexa Montez Bolton.

He stared. He stared at the paper, breathless. His heart began to pound rapidly, he began to get sweaty again, and he felt guilt ripping at his heart. But at the same time, he felt peace and warmth in him. He felt like the missing piece had been sewn back into his heart. He couldn't believe it, it mustn't be true. It's not.

"What?" he said.

_Is it true? How do I know? Maybe it was…maybe she was…maybe the father was…maybe…_

"Well, you had to find out sooner or later," a voice said, sounding a little flat with a hint of warmth in it.

Troy turned around and looked at her. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He wanted to say a million things, but nothing was said. He still couldn't believe it. It couldn't be true…

"It's true," Clara said, with a warm smile, "You're the father."

"What?" that's what Troy managed.

**gasp! Yes, he knows. What? Gabriella couldn't just tell him.**

**- xlovelyloserface**


	15. Chapter 15

********************

Author's Note: Wow! Thanks for all the amazing reviews! One more chapter until the wedding day! Sorry to keep you all waiting and apologies if fanfiction messes up my story!

* * *

Troy's head was throbbing when he woke up. It was not throbbing out of confusion but inside, he could feel guilt rush toward his head. Even after last night's revelation, his head was still throbbing. He rolled over in his bed and sat down on it. He rubbed his eyes, hoping to clear his head. He rested his face on his hands when he reflected. He could still feel dizzy, ever since last night.

He rubbed his face with his palm, contemplating what to do next. He inhaled sharply and shrugged. He didn't know what to do next. Should he keep quiet? Should he confront Gabriella? Should he find out more before he confronts her? He took in a deep breath.

_Troy rushed up to Gabriella, taking her gently by the arm. Gabriella turned to him with a small smile on her face, unaware of what Troy knew._

"_I need to talk to you." Troy said._

_Gabriella nodded, as Troy gently took her to the corner of the room. _

_He sighed, gathering his thoughts before he said anything. "Gabriella, I really need to talk to you about something important." He said, feeling his heart throbbing in his chest. He secretly hoped it wasn't obvious._

"_Okay, what's up, Troy?"_

_Troy shrugged as he put his hands in his pockets. He ran his fingers through his hair. "I really need to talk to you about Isa—"_

"_Gabby!" Taylor cried._

_Gabriella turned around to look at her best friend."Hm?"_

"_I need your help, I can't choose between these entrees," Taylor said._

"_I'll be right there," Gabriella said. She turned to Troy and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, can we talk later?" she said, as she turned around to walk to Taylor._

_Troy sighed as Gabriella walked back to her friend. He looked on, a little disappointed. _

"_Tay," Gabriella said. "You're wedding's the end of this week!" she giggled._

_Troy rested against the wall, breathing heavily. He threw his head back, staring at the ceiling. With his hands in his pockets, he walked to the couch. He threw his head back and inhaled slowly. He wiped his face with his hands and saw Isabelle skipping before him._

"_Hey, Belle." Troy said, as the little girl walked up to him._

_She smiled happily. "Hi, U-Uncle Troy," she said._

_Troy looked at the object in the girl's hand. "What do you have there?" he said, feeling a little dizzy again. He wiped eyes before she answered._

"_This," she said, pulling up the Bear and throwing it onto Troy's lap. "That's Mr. Snuggles, he used to be Mama's. But now he's mine." _

Oh god, _Troy thought. That was the exact same bear that he gave Gabriella a couple years back. He forced a smile. "Wow, he's something."_

"_Yup," Isabelle nodded._

_Troy looked at the little girl, finally looking _at_ her. She was spitting image of Gabriella, same exact cute little face, long ringlets, and that adorable smile. Yet, her hair was a little lighter, almost the same color as…Troy's. And her eyes…her eyes were blue._

"_You…you have lovely eyes," Troy said, in a soft tone to Isabelle._

_Isabelle smiled. "T-Thank you. Mama says it's like my daddy's."_

Troy threw back onto the bed wanting to shout in confusion, but he refrained from doing so. He turned over to the digital clock, it was 9:32. He jumped out of the bed, hoping Gabriella would be downstairs.

He walked out of his room, into the halls. He knocked on Gabriella's bedroom door. He poked his head in, to see if she was there, and she wasn't. He assumed she was down stairs. When he was going down the stairs, he could see Clara making breakfast, Isabelle drawing, and Gabriella rushing around the kitchen.

Once he reached the first floor, he rushed to Gabriella, who had her purse in her hands, ready to leave. "Hey Gabby," he said, gently stopping her as he took her elbow.

Gabriella, who was dressed in dark brown shorts, striped blue button down shirt, black flats, and a blazer, turned and smiled at Troy. "Hey," she said.

"I need to talk to you." He said, looking at her with a soft look on his face. "It's really important," he said.

Gabriella cocked her head and bit her lip. "Oh, I'm sorry. I have to go meet up with Taylor to tailor some dresses. I'm sorry." She said, throwing the keys of her rented car in her pocket.

"Oh." Troy nodded understandingly. "Maybe we can meet up tonight, for coffee or something."

"Sure," Gabriella said, with a smile.

Troy put on a weak smile. "Um…5:30-ish?"

"Yeah, see you then." She said. She got on her tippy-toes, pecked Troy on the cheek, and walked out the door. "Bye Belle! Bye, Ma!" she said, before she left.

Troy could feel his cheek burning as he had chills run down his spine. He smiled to himself, as he touched his cheek. Troy sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. He lazily walked into the kitchen, slipped in one of the stools and rested his body over the island counter. "Aahhh." He moaned, tiredly.

"Good Morning, Troy." Clara said, putting a mug of fresh coffee before him. "I see there was no success today,"

Troy pushed himself up and shrugged. "Not really." He said, taking the coffee. "I really just can't blurt it out, ya know?"

Clara nodded as she pushed the bacon onto a plate. "Understandable." She said, with a smile. "You felt it, didn't you?" she said, hovering over the oven. She snuck a peek at Troy and smiled at his confused look.

"…felt what?"

"The spark." Clara said, simply. "When you love someone and you touch them or have any contact with them, you feel that spark. Like electricity running through your body when you see them, or your hand burning when you hold theirs…hm, and chills running down your spine when you're too close to them. That kinda stuff." She smiled. "When Len, Gabby's father, was still alive, I'd feel my hands burn every time," she said with a giggle.

Troy smiled to himself, in realization. "I feel that…every time when I'm with her. I think…I love her." He said, softly. "But I can't," he added quickly.

"Why?"

"Because," he stated, simply. "I just…can't."

Clara nodded. "Is it because she has Josh and you have someone else or is it because you convinced your heart you can't?"

Troy remained silent. He looked away, contemplating Clara's last words. He looked up at her, to see her smile. He shrugged and sighed. "Both." He admitted.

"Ah, I see." She said, flipping over the bacon on the pan. "She has a good reason not to tell you." She said, with a nod, as she looked up at Troy, to see him staring back at her in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Well…you broke up with her in a note, left her, and avoided her for…four years? Yeah, four." Clara said, with a small smile. "I'd hate you, Troy."

Troy ran his fingers through his hair again. "Um…but I can explain." He said, with a frown. "She didn't come."

"What?" Clara said, turning to Troy.

"She didn't come that day. She didn't come."

Clara frowned. "I shouldn't be the one to tell you, what's going on. You need to talk to her, you really do."

"I know."

* * *

"Can I talk to you? It's kind of important." Troy said, honestly. He took a deep breath and sighed, worried about the words to come out. He shifted uncontrollably in his seat. "I…don't know how to say this….but…before I tell you, please don't yell at me…"

"I won't. Continue, Troy,"

Troy sighed rubbing the back of his neck with his palm, a habit he did when he was nervous. "I didn't know…this whole time…I'm sorry, I really am." He said, with a sigh. "I-I don't know how to put this…" he said.

"Okay…"

"Please don't blame me." Troy said, with a sigh. "I didn't know, within all this time…I had no clue, honestly…I questioned it…once, but it meant nothing." He said, with a sigh. "So, I…"

"Troy, just spit it out already!"

Troy sighed, feeling the heat trickle on his back. He inhaled deeply before he spoke again. "Okay, um…I think I'm the father of someone's baby…"

"Who?"

Troy sighed and lifted his head up. "Gabriella's."

"Oh," Amanda chuckled, softly. "We knew that. If you were going to say Abby, I would have known my son's a little…you know," she said, with a chuckle as Jack laughed along with her.

Troy knit his eyebrows and leaned back in the chair. "Her name's Allie, Mom." Troy said, softly. "Wait, what? Am I missing something?"

Amanda cocked her head. "Oh, yeah, we know."

"You…_know_?"

Jack nodded after he took a sip of his warm coffee. He leaned back on the couch, next to his wife. "Yes, Gabby told us."

Troy jumped up from his seat, standing before his parents. "Wait? So you two knew and you didn't tell me?" he said, his voice rising. "Mom, I could have been there! I could be with her right now, raising Isabella! We could have been…we could have…something…"

"Troy, we had no right to tell you. It wasn't our decision to leave you out of this. Gabby should be the one to tell you…not us." Amanda said, in a soft caring tone.

Troy slowly sat back down and nodded. "So…it's official…we are...I mean, I am…?"

"Yes, son." Jack said with a nod. "You need to talk to her, and you need to talk to her soon."

Troy looked at his father and nodded. "Yeah…I will…"

* * *

"Taylor, is it _supposed_ to be a vacuum around my body because it's sucking my skin off!" Sharpay cried, resting her arms on the back of her hips as she tried to breath. "It's too tight,"

Taylor smiled awkwardly. "Well, it looks a bit tight…" she said, walking round the pedestal that Sharpay was on. "Okay, fine, Louise, can you loosen it up a bit." She said, directing the tailor.

Louise, a small thin woman with bright orange hair tied up in a bun nodded as she loosened the outfit a bit. Sharpay let out a huge dramatic sigh and pretended to wipe sweat off her forehead.

"Thank goodness!" she said, with a smile. "It's perfect now," she told Louise. She twirled around the three-mirrored stand and smiled to herself. "This dress is cute." She said, touching the slimming lilac floor length dress with spaghetti straps. "Thanks," she said to Louise.

Louise nodded. "Okay," she said, writing down Sharpay's measurements. "Looks like you girls are all done!" she said, with a smile. "Ms. McKessie, why don't come down the hall with me and we'll discuss the finally touches."

Taylor smiled, as she turned to her bridesmaids. "I'll be back," she said, before she turned around and followed Louise.

"This dress looks so cuh-yoot," Sharpay said, with a smile. "Aren't you guys so excited for Taylor?"

"This wedding's going to be beautiful," Kelsi said with a smile. "I'm so glad for them," she said, with a nod.

Gabriella nodded in agreement. "Taylor's been dreaming of this day since high school and it's finally here," she laughed.

"I'm not sure she dreamt Chad _in the picture_." Sharpay said, as the girls laughed along with her.

Then, Gabriella could feel her cell phone buzzing in her pocket. She took it out of her jeans and flipped it open. '**Meet me Willie's in 10.**' The text message was from Troy. Gabriella shoved her phone back into her pocket. "I gotta go, tell Taylor I'll meet her at her house in a few hours," she said, as she gathered her belongings.

"Where are _you_ going, Missy?" Sharpay said, raising an eyebrow as she looked at her suspiciously.

Gabriella slightly blushed. "Oh, just to meet with Troy at Willie's." she said, with a shrug as she threw her purse over her shoulder.

"Willie's? Oh, that place is so cute." Kelsi said, with a smile.

Sharpay nodded. "It's very…_romantic_,"

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Sharpay, it's a diner, it's not very romantic with the smell of fresh meat and coffee," she said, as she walked out the door. "Bye!"

Gabriella walked to the dark blue rental car. She unlocked it and slid into the driver's seat. After she put the car keys in the ignition, she started her car and turned on her favorite Albuquerque radio station—LL98. As she backed out of the parking lot of Helen's Bridals, she went on the local road.

After about five minutes of driving, she could see the little diner around the corner. Soon, the radio was blasting, _Bleeding Love_. Gabriella lowered the volume a little, not really in the mood to hear the song. She pulled up into the parking lot, turned off her car, and jumped out. She shut the car door, locked it, and walked into the diner.

When she arrived, the smell of coffee and meat filled the air. Gabriella slowly smiled to herself. And she spotted Troy, sitting in one of the booths. Gabriella could feel herself smile uncontrollably. She walked over to him and slipped into one of the booths.

"Hey," Troy said, with a smile.

Gabriella smiled back. "Hi," she said.

She could feel her heart beating faster. In Med School, she learned that a heart would beat out of emotion. And right now, she wished her heart was beating for the guy in front of her but, another part of her didn't want it to beat for him.

"Um, do you want to order anything?" Troy said, holding up the menu.

The waiter, a woman with strawberry blonde hair and thick shiny make-up who was in her mid-40s walked up to them. She smiled brightly. "What can I get you two? How cute, on a date. Aw," she said.

Gabriella and Troy chuckled nervously as they both blushed. They looked away.

"Oh, am I embarrassing you all? Oh, I'm sorry," she chuckled. "What can I get you two?"

Gabriella didn't even feel like denying it this time. It was just too much energy trying to explain what they are. "Um, I'll just have a coffee,"

"Me too." Troy said, looking at Gabriella when he ordered.

The waitress nodded. "Okay, coffee's for the kids," she said, with a smile, before she walked away.

Troy shifted in his seat. "Gabby, I really need to talk to you…its really important," he said, with his voice low.

"What's wrong?" she said, looking at Troy's concerned face. "I didn't do anything….right?" she said, looking at him a little worried.

Troy shrugged, not knowing where to start. "Um…not really, I guess, but I—" he cut himself off . "Anyways. It's about Isa—"

Then Gabriella's phone began to rang. She excused herself and picked it up. "Hey Taylor…didn't Sharpay tell you?" she said into the phone. "No, I'm with Troy…oh, wow! I'm so sorry, I totally forgot Tay!" she said. "Okay…I'll be right there…Alright, bye."

"What happened?" Troy said, looking at Gabriella.

"I got to go, Taylor needs me…sorry," she said, looking at him apologetically. "We'll talk later, okay?" she said, as she got up from her seat. "Bye." She said, walking out of the booth.

Gabriella was on her way to the exit of the diner when her phone rang. She stopped in her tracks and picked it up. "…um, hey, Josh…" she said.

* * *

**Ouch...hahaha :) Don't worry! Next chapter, expect the Chad and Taylor's wedding with drama! :) **

**- xlovelyloserface**

* * *


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note**: **Thanks for the great reviews, everyone! I really appreciated them! haha, anyways. It's officially summer for me, so it gives me free time to update the story, yet the end is near in maximum of six chapters? I don't know yet, but we'll see :**

* * *

"Mama, you look p-pretty!" Isabella said, as her mother attempted to clip a lilac flower in her curly hair. Isabella would fidget constantly in the chair, looking at the make-up, picking at other's dresses and such.

Gabriella smiled after she successfully pinned the flower in her daughter's hair. "Thank you baby," she said. "You look lovely, you're finished."

Isabella jumped up from the chair, running into the halls of the Danforth house with the white ruffles of her dress following her. Gabriella smiled as her daughter ran off. She walked over to the rest of the bridesmaids, who were all making final touches on their dresses. Gabriella joined them, picking at her curly hair, and fixing them of her dress.

"You've been getting calls from Joshua?" Kelsi said, as she cocked an eyebrow as she went through Gabriella's phone.

Gabriella sauntered over to Kelsi and snatched the phone away. "It's nothing."

"Nothing?" Sharpay said, as she stole it out of Gabriella's hand. "How come he's called like five times in the past day?" she said, holding the phone up in the air, so Gabriella wouldn't reach it.

"It's nothing. Okay, he's just been calling to see what's up, that's it. He just wanted to say a few times, okay?" she said, as Sharpay gave her back the phone. "Thank you."

"Oh, c'mon, Gabs, we all know he's just worried because he knows that you're down in Albuquerque with your ex-fiancé, unsupervised—he knows the possibilities of you two doing something not good for your daughter's eyes."

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Gosh, Shar, you make it sound like a spring break story."

"Oh, we all know it's going to be one." Kelsi said.

Gabriella laughed. "Whatever." She said, fixing her dress. "It looks fine right?"

"Yup."

"Thank god I'm not that pregnant now, I'd look…gross in this dress," Sharpay said, with a small little frown as she twirled in front of the mirror.

Kelsi chuckled softly. "You look fine,"

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah, you're not _that_ pregnant."

Sharpay scoffed, whipping her body toward Gabriella. "Are you kidding me, Gabs? I'm as pregnant as an elephant! I look like I'm ready to burst any second!"

"No, you like fine," Melanie, Taylor's cousin, reassured her, as she fixed her lilac dress.

"It's not that bad until you get into the cravings and all that crazy stuff," Gabriella admitted to Sharpay.

"I hear that's horrible, well not—" Kelsi paused. "It's just funny about all the stuff you crave," she said, with a small grin on her face.

Sharpay giggled. "Oh yeah, I remember. You were horrible! Whenever I was over, all you'd ask for is chocolate covered dumplings, hot orange juice, and warm turkey with cinnamon. You were crazy,"

"And I can't wait 'till you're like that, Shar." Gabriella said, with a smug smile as she laughed at her friend. "_You_'d be crazy." She giggled.

"Wow," Melanie said. "You guys are scaring me about getting pregnant…" she said, with a laugh.

Gabriella smiled. "It's not scary, it's just a long ride." She said, with a sincere nod. "When I had Isabelle, I felt like I had the longest nine months, ever." She said, chuckling slightly.

"Who's the father?" Melanie asked.

The room was silent. Sharpay and Kelsi didn't say a weird. Their eyes were wide as they stared at each other then turned to Gabriella, waiting for a signal from her to say anything. She just stood there and watched them all stare at her.

"…Um, I'm sorry…that must be awkward, I apologize," Melanie said, sincerely as locked her hands together. She looked a little embarrassed, but smiled apologetically.

"It's fine. It's Troy's, he doesn't know." She admitted.

Melanie nodded. "Oh, I kind of guessed, they have the same eyes."

Gabriella smiled. "Thanks," she said. She turned to see Kelsi, beside Sharpay, fixing her dress. "Hey, Kels, how are you and Jason?"

Kelsi bashfully turned to Gabriella and smiled sheepishly. "Oh…we're good. We've been dating for a long time and all…" she said.

"Are you guys _serious_?" Melanie asked.

Kelsi shrugged. "He's a total goof, but he seems a little sincere this time," she said, with a smile.

"Oooooh," Sharpay cooed as she playfully winked at them.

They all laughed as they heard Taylor's door open.

"Oh My—"

"Holy—"

"Sweet Lord—"

"Of Mexico!"

Taylor smiled and laughed at the girls' comments or compliments. She graced an elegant Ivory dress that touched the floor, the cloth thickening as it touched the ground. It had beautiful beaded designs and a sweep on the side. Taylor's dark hair was pulled back, with the ends in curls and a few wisps in her face. With a small pearl tiara over her head, holding her veil, she looked undeniably beautiful.

"…How do I look?"

Sharpay scoffed. "Doesn't 'Oh My Holy Sweet Lord of Mexico', say enough to you?" she said, sarcastically.

"Taylor, you look so beautiful!" Gabriella cried.

Taylor laughed a little. "Really? Wow…Thanks."

"You look amazing!" Melanie said.

Kelsi agreed with her nod. "You look stunning, Tay,"

"Chad will pee in his pants, when he sees this hottie in her gown!" she cried, as all the bridesmaids laughed along with her.

"I'm so nervous!" Taylor admitted to her best friends, jumping excitedly. "I really can't wait." She said, with a smile. "Do I look okay? I do look like a freaky llama with curls, right?"

They all laughed.

"Of course not!" Kelsi said.

Sharpay nodded. "If that llama looked as hot as you do, right now, then I'd say yes," she said, sarcastically as everyone laughed with her.

"Gabby, can you get the bouquets?" Taylor asked, her voice shaking.

Gabriella nodded, when she stepped out of Taylor's den. She walked into the hallway, where Taylor and Chad's relatives were rushing around. She picked up the bouquets, which were in a little woven basket, that were on the table in the foyer. Gabriella picked them.

"Gabby!"

"Yeah?" she said, turning to the voice.

Troy ran up to her, taking her gently by the elbow. "Hey…"

Gabriella looked at him a little scared. "Um…hi?" she said, feeling the tension between them.

"Hi, I wanted to talk."

"I wish I could but, today's Chad and Taylor's day, I got to go help out." She said, looking into Troy's hypnotizing blue eyes.

Troy nodded, understandingly. "Oh…okay, we'll talk later then."

Gabriella nodded and returned to the room with the basket of bouquets in her hands.

* * *

"And now…welcome the wonderful couple who this ceremony's all about…Mr. _and Mrs._ Danforth!" the DJ cried as the large white doors swung open as Chad and Taylor, arms linked, walked out onto the backyard of the Country Club.

Their guests stood on their feet, cheering excitedly for them as the happy couple walked onto the dance floor and walked within it. The guests continued to cheer as cameras flashed people cheered, and the two were smiling like crazy.

"How about the couple's _first dance_?" the DJ said in a deep loose tone.

Soft music dripped through the speakers as Chad and Taylor began to dance with each other in the middle of the dance floor.

"They are so cute, I might just have to slap someone," Sharpay said, excitedly as she threw her two hands against her chest.

Gabriella laughed as she turned to Sharpay. "Please don't, I don't think this baby wants to see mommy slapping someone." She said, with a laugh.

Sharpay laughed. "Whatever." She said, as she continued to clap as all the guests sat down in their seats and watched the happy couple dance.

As the night continued on, Chad and Taylor proceeded with traditional ceremonial events at the wedding reception such as: feeding of the cake, throwing of the bouquet (which Kelsi had won), and so on. Most of the guests, along with the honored couple, were out on the dance floor with them dancing throughout most of the reception. Even little Natalie was stomping around the dance floor.

"Alright everyone," the DJ said in his usual slow tone. "Guys grab your girls and bring them out to the floor."

Zeke walked over to the table bowed before Sharpay before he offered his hand. Sharpay giggled and took his hand as he lead her to the dance floor as the romantic slow music came onto the speakers. Jason and Kelsi were already walking out into the dance floor giggling together and Chad and Taylor already had their arms around each other. Gabriella sat in her seat, with a soft smile on her face as she admired the dancing couples.

"Miss?" a voice said behind her.

Gabriella turned around and laughed at Troy as he held out his hand. "Why not?" she said, as she took his hand and he lead her onto the floor.

As the slowly put their arms around each other, their eyes met. She just stared into his warm crystal blue eyes for just a little too long and she quickly pulled her glare away as her eyes shifted across the room.

"You look beautiful," Troy said.

Gabriella looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks," she blushed. "And you clean up very nicely," she said, with a warm smile.

Troy chuckled as comfortable silence fell over them. Numerous thoughts were racing through Troy's mind, especially since the news he received just a couple days before. He hadn't gotten a chance to talk to her because of all the duties the Maid of Honor had to go through. He just continued to stare at her soft, warm face as Gabriella occasionally flashed him a sincere smile every now and then as the song continued. He could feel the warmth in her hand as he held it while they dance slowly. And every time their eyes met, he could feel tingles running through his body. He needed to know.

"Gabs…can we talk?"

Gabriella looked up at him. "Yeah, sure. What's going on?"

"In private?"

Gabriella nodded. Troy led her off the dance floor and into the den of the Country Club. Gabriella walked into the room after Troy. He turned around and closed the door. Gabriella leaned against one of the seats. Troy ran his fingers through his hair as he mustered up the courage to talk to Gabriella. He let out a sigh and looked into her warm eyes.

"I really need some clarity right now," he stated, looking at her. "And I'm really hoping that you'll be honest with me and really let me know…"

Gabriella nodded and looked at him with worried eyes. "What's wrong Troy?"

Troy began to pace as he fiddled with his fingers he paused in his tracks and pivoted to face Gabriella. "Who's Isabella's father?" he said, in a serious tone.

"Troy this isn't really the ti—"

Troy inhaled sharply. "Please, Gabriella, just tell me."

Gabriella's bottom lip began to quiver. "Troy, really I jus—"

"Gabriella."

"Troy, we're in the middle of a—"

"Gabs,"

"You." She said, her head lowered as she looked towards the ground. She was afraid to lift her head to meet his gaze, she didn't want to see his reaction. She could feel her heart beating a little bit too fast over what she just confessed. She found the courage to look at him.

His face looked a little pale and he looked to be in deep thought. He looked up at Gabriella, his eyes looking confused and tired. "Why? Why didn't you tell me, Gabs?" he said, in a slow soft tone.

Gabriella rubbed her arm, suddenly feeling cold. She looked at him afraid to say anything; she looked away and didn't say a word as Troy began to pace back and forth.

"Why? Why didn't you tell me? I could have been there!" Troy shouted, his voice tense and stressed. "We could have…" he sighed. "We could have been something."

Gabriella felt a pang of tears rushing toward her. She lifted her head. "Really?! We could have been something? We could have never been something and I was never planning on telling you!" Gabriella cried, as tears began to shake her vision.

"Why? Why? I could have been there, I could have been her father." Troy cried, wiping his face. "God, Gabriella, I could have been there. I could have helped you all those years, we'd still be together…"

Gabriella inhaled sharply and stood up straight. "You would have never been there, Troy! You left _me_, remember? And I was never going to let you leave my daughter as well!"

Troy lowered his head and sat on a random couch. He put his hands to his face, crouching over. He slowly stood up and looked at her. "You never read the note, did you?"

"I read the note! I read the note Troy, and it killed me. You killed me. I didn't even have enough strength to read the whole thing! Leaving me…like that? I couldn't make it past a couple of sentances without choking up because I believed ever since we were together that'd we'd always be together until that note."

Troy sighed. "You never read the whole thing, didn't you? If you would have read it, we'd be married right now. I left because I needed time to think and I wasn't leaving you. I still wanted to marry you, Gabriella. In that letter, I asked you to prepare for our wedding, because I was still going to marry you. I never thought of not marrying you, Gabriella. I asked you to meet me on our wedding date." He said, his throat began to choke up. "I never left you."

Her tears began to roll down her cheeks she covered her mouth and sat down on the couch, digesting everything in. She covered her face with her hands and began to sob silently.

"I waited, like an idiot on my wedding day. Sure, my side of the Church showed up, but yours didn't. So, from then on, I believed _you left me_." He said. "We could still be…"

Gabriella cupped her face. "Troy…" she whispered.

"I could have been there all those years. Isabella would have a father…We'd still be together." Troy continued.

"…Troy…please…"

Troy began to pace back and forth. "We could have a life, we could have gotten married, and…we wouldn't be like this…"

"…I don't know what to say," Gabriella said, tears running down her face. She wiped them all away, avoiding eye contact with Troy. "I…"

"Do you still love me, Gabriella?"

She didn't answer him.

"I never stopped loving you. When I met Allie, I thought I was over you, but clearly I wasn't. The reason I asked for a break between us, is because I realized she was not you and she was nothing like you. Please tell me you feel something when we look into each other's eyes or when our hands meet. If you don't, Gabriella…I'll leave you alone…" he said, honestly as he looked up at the sobbing woman in front of him.

She looked up at Troy, her face stained with tears. "Troy…I-I'm engaged."

Troy turned around, feeling the anger arise in him. "Gabriella, I love you." He said, his back towards her. "I am so in love with you."

"I love you too, Troy." Gabriella whispered.

Troy automatically turned around to face her. "What?" he walked to her, got on his knees and held her hand as she continued to weep on the couch.

She looked up at him and their eyes met. "I love you, Troy. I never stopped either and I thought I did, but I really didn't. I felt like I moved on, but I never did, I was still waiting, waiting for you."

Troy smiled as he cupped her face. He slowly leant over to kiss her. At first, she was hesitant, but when their lips touched, she fell for him. She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck as Troy's arms began to slip slowly around her waist. Their lips never released each other's. They were so caught up. Troy's hands slowly ventured her body. Troy stood up, pulling Gabriella along with him. They were so caught up in the moment, they could feel the electricity run throughout their bodies, but suddenly Troy stopped and let go. He backed up.

"I can't."

"What?"

"I can't." Troy said.

Gabriella could feel the tears rush back. "How dare you, tell me you love me and tell me you can't. Don't do this Troy…" Gabriella said, wiping her eyes. She turned away, heading for the door. "Don't play with my heart Troy,"

Troy reached for her hand and tried to pull her back, but she resisted and continued to walk.

"Marry me."

Gabriella stopped in her tracks. She stood, her back facing Troy. She slowly turned around to meet Troy's face. "W-What?"

"Marry me, Gabriella."

* * *

**I bet you're confused. Yeah, you're definitely confused! I'm sorry for the confusion...but haha, yeah! Anyways.**

**- xlovelyloserface**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hi...Wow, I am SO SORRY for keeping you all waiting. I deeply apologize for making everyone wait a whole summer just for this story. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and reminded me about my story :) I'm glad that you all still remember it and this site! Is it me or does it seem like FanFiction isn't as popular or active anymore? Hm, anyways, here's the story. Hope it's worth a summer's wait :)**

Looking out the window, cars softly passed by, wind rattle against the trees, and the New Mexico morning sun had just risen. The morning looked so soft, so mysterious and bright. It looked so lovely, they could feel the warmth even from the car. Even at 6:24 AM, they had managed to be awake, especially after a night like that.

Gabriella placed her temple on the cold car window, being able to have a smooth angle of the landscape around them. She pulled her knees up to her chest, still wearing her bridesmaid gown. She sighed a bit.

"What's wrong?" Troy asked, glancing over at her for a quick second and quickly turning his attention back to the road.

Gabriella shook her head. "Nothing." She mumbled, slowly closing her eyes. "Mmm." She said, softly.

"Oh, okay." He said, with a nod.

"Well," Gabriella said. "…I don't know. I mean, what happens when we get back? What am I supposed to say? What're you supposed to say? We didn't tell anyone…" she kept looking for other reasons, but clearly couldn't find any.

Troy glanced at her quickly and smiled. "Relax, didn't you want this? I mean, when you said yes, you were aware all of this crap would come along with it, right?" he said, smiling.

Gabriella laughed. "Yeah, yeah, I know." She giggled. "Who knew that they had one of those 24 Hour Chapels in Santa Fe?" she said, with a soft smile.

Troy laughed. "It was pretty random." He said. He had one hand on the wheel and inched his other hand toward Gabriella's.

She turned to him a little surprised, but when she saw his face, her face softened and her lips curled into a smile. She gently took his hand, with their fingers intertwined. She smiled to herself. She could still feel the tingles she got when she touched his hand, just like she did when they first met.

"How long's the ride back?"

Troy shrugged slightly and checked the clock on the radio. "Um…about twenty minutes, it's not that bad of a drive."

Gabriella nodded. "So…what happens when we get back? I'm sorry, but I keep thinking about it…I kinda left Isabelle and we left without telling anyone…" Gabriella shrugged and continued to stare out the car window. "I don't know, I feel bad."

"Don't." Troy said, simply, kissing Gabriella's hand gently.

Gabriella smiled brightly, feeling chills run down her spin.

"Your mom definitely took care of her, probably drowning her in sour gummy worms, chocolate covered raisins, and much more." He said, as Gabriella laughed.

"Yeah, yeah…" she said with a smile. Suddenly Troy's phone began to light up and ring in her purse. She reached for it and checked the number on the phone. She quickly pressed ignore and put her phone back into her purse.

"Who was it?"

"My mom." Gabriella said with a shrug. "She tried calling you again."

* * *

"Voicemail…again!" Clara cried, sighing and she shut her phone. She shook her head in disbelief. "I think this is about the twentieth time we've called Troy." She said, sitting on the couch.

Sharpay closed her eyes. "I'm not stressing out…stressing out will hurt the baby…" she said, touching her stomach and inhaling deeply. "I will not stress out. She's probably perfectly fine…"

Zeke nodded. "Yeah, she's probably fine. Let's call Gabby." He said, dialing his number. Zeke put the phone to his ear. He waited patiently for Gabby to pick up as Clara and Sharpay looked up at him eagerly. "It's dead and her voicemail box is full."

"Probably from us leaving all those voicemails last night…" Sharpay said.

Clara knit her eyebrows and shook her head, throwing her hands in front of them. "Oh, no, no, no." she said, shaking her head once again. "It's been hours."

"I last saw them at the reception." Sharpay said. "So I don't know what happened. They're adults, Clara, so I think that they're being responsible and mature about whatever happened."

"We'll see…" she said, skeptical.

"Grandma," Isabelle said, skipping toward Clara. "Where's Mama?" she said, as she put her hands on the couch's arm. Her feet shuffled impatiently.

Clara smiled sweetly. "Well, Mama's…out getting groceries…" she said, with a smile. "She'll be back…soon, hopefully…" she said, with an awkward chuckle.

"W-What about Uncle Troy?" She said, tapping her tiny fingers against the couch.

Clara smiled awkwardly. "He went with Mama, they'll be back. Why don't you…um, go eat those gummies I bought for you? They're in the kitchen."

Isabelle's face lit up and a smile crept up. "Okay!" she said, scurrying off into the kitchen.

"Do you think they're together?" Sharpay said, turning to Clara, as she slumped onto the couch.

Clara shrugged and put her elbow against her knee. She let out a deep sigh. "No, she's with Josh, isn't she?"

Sharpay shook her head. "No, I meant, like, is Gabriella with Troy right now?"

"I don't know. I'm hoping, because I know Troy would protect her with his life. He's also been the one to care for her, all the time." Clara said, smiling warmly just thinking about Troy's love for her daughter. "He really loves her."

Sharpay nodded in agreement. "_Way_ more than Josh will ever love her." She said, with a scoff.

"I know I've never met the guy, but what does Gabby see in him? He's gotta be something if she chose him over Troy. Gabby's crazy for Troy." Zeke said, with a nod.

Sharpay nodded in agreement. "I know, right? I don't know. I don't think Gabriella even knows herself."

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Everyone stood still, all their eyes growing wide with wonder. Clara quickly whipped her head toward Sharpay. She jumped up and ran over to the door with Sharpay and Zeke right behind her. Clara unlocked the door and whipped it open. Suddenly, a frown came to her face.

"Oh."

Taylor and Chad's face fell into confusion and awkwardness.

"Um…bad timing?" Chad said, with a shrug as he looked at them all with an awkward smile.

Sharpay shook her head and broke into a soft smile. "No, sorry. We thought you were Troy and Gabby." She said, stepping back to let the newlyweds into the house.

Taylor nodded as herself and Chad walked into Clara's home. "Oh, where are they by the way? I've tried to call Gabby, since we're leaving in a few hours."

"Yeah, I've been trying to call Troy up too."

Zeke shrugged. "I don't know, man. We've been trying to call them for a while now, but we're hoping they're together."

"When did you last see them?" Taylor asked, as the whole party shifted into the living room. "I haven't seen them…since the middle of the reception, when they were dancing."

Sharpay's dark eyes grew big. "You don't think they…?" she said, narrowing them in question as she looked to Taylor.

Taylor's mouth dropped a little as she begin to wonder about all the possible things that could have happened within the two last night. She knit her eyebrows and looked suspicious. "I don't know…maybe they could have…"

"Don't even," Clara said, with a sigh.

Chad shook his head. "Nah, guys." He said, putting his arm around his wife. "You know Gabby, she wouldn't do anything crazy _or_ stupid. And Troy would listen to her about that."

"True," Sharpay mumbled.

"But, you never know when it comes to Troy." Zeke said with a nod. "He's full of surprises…"

"True," Taylor flatly said, with a worried look across her face.

Suddenly, the sound of a car pulling up into the driveway filled the ears. Everyone stood up straight, alerted with the sudden noise. They all looked at each other with their eyes large with curiosity, worry, anxiety, and suspicion. From inside, they could see a tall man with a mop of chestnut hair driving the car and a woman in the passenger side with short dark curls. They were both dressed in formal attire.

"_Ay Dios Mio_," Clara said amongst all the silence. "It's them. What were they thinking, running off like that?" she said, marching toward the door.

Taylor, Sharpay, Chad, and Zeke all followed Clara's angry lead toward the foyer. They were all whispering amongst themselves and shaking their heads.

"Is it me…or can I see the steam coming out of Mama Montez's ears?" Sharpay whispered behind her hand to Taylor.

Taylor squinted her eyes at the back of Clara's frame. "You're right…I kind of can, creepy."

"Gabriella's so dead."

Clara reached the door, grabbed the knob, and whipped the door open revealing Gabriella and Troy with surprised looks on their face. Gabriella had been digging in her purse and Troy had his hand on Gabriella's waist. Clara's face relaxed when she saw the both of them. In relief, she threw her arms around them.

Gabriella smiled awkwardly as she gently hugged her mother back. "Hi…" Gabriella turned her head to Troy and Troy just smiled awkwardly at her. She looked at her mother with uncertainty and then back at the gang behind her mother.

When Clara finally released them, her face came into a stern manner. "Gabby, what do you think you were doing at this hour? Did you know we were all worried for the both of you?"

Gabriella nod. "Yes, I know but—"

"We've been worrying for you guys since…last night." Clara said, shaking her head in disbelief. "This is ridiculous." Clara sighed. "Did you not even care to think about Isabelle?" Clara said, her voice changing into a whisper.

"I did, Mom. She was the one I was—"

"Well, come inside and explain yourself." Clara said, shaking her head.

Gabriella nodded in silence as she and Troy walked past Clara and entered the foyer. The whole gang engulfed them in a big hug, glad to have them in a safe return from wherever they went.

"Yo, man, where you've been?" Chad said, patting his friend on the shoulder.

Troy smiled awkwardly. "Well, uh…you know…around."

"Gabs, you've been so worried about you!" Sharpay cried as she and Taylor released Gabby from their big hug. "Where have you been?"

Gabriella smiled. "Um…we kind of got…lost…for uh, a really long time…" she said, putting an uneasy look on her face.

"We didn't see you since last night." Taylor said, her face relaxing. "At least you're safe now."

"I was never in danger," Gabriella laughed softly.

"Well," Sharpay said, taking Gabriella's hand gently. "We just wanted to make sure and—" Sharpay suddenly cut herself off. She felt something weird on Gabriella's ring finger. In a sharp move, she pulled Gabriella's hand closer to her face, seeing a silver band around her finger. "You…"

Gabriella didn't say anything as she saw Taylor examining her face with wide eyes. Taylor gave Gabriella a suspicious look as Gabriella felt her stomach sinking in. Her two best friends stared her down intently and she had no idea how to respond or explain about any of this. She opened her mouth, but no words came out, her mind was still racing.

Sharpay's eyes dug deeper on the ring on Gabriella's finger, all these assumptions, questions, and conclusions were running through her head. Slowly glancing at Taylor, she knew she had the same reaction as well, assuming from the blank look on Taylor's face. Sharpay quickly grabbed Troy's left hand and pulled it to her view, seeing the same exact silver band.

"You didn't--"

"Holy Crap--"

"Oh dear--"

"OH MY GOD! You guys got married!"

* * *

"This is…a wonderful surprise…" Clara said, sitting on the couch, with a calm manner. "I'd be jumping up and down for joy, because I've always wanted you two together."

"Mom," Gabriella smiled. She was sitting on the couch next to Troy, who had his arm around her thin waist.

"You still have to explain to Isabelle what this all means…" Clara said, with a nod.

Gabriella nodded in response. "I think she'll understand, I mean, Troy was pretty much her father when we lived together."

Clara nodded. "Oh okay…" she said. "It's just that, someone called for you today."

"Really, who?"

Clara looked at Sharpay, Taylor, Chad, and Zeke before returning her gaze to Gabriella. She nodded to her daughter and reached over to the answering machine. She clicked the button and a familiar voice came on.

"_Gabriella,_"

It was Josh's voice.

Gabriella froze. She had forgotten all about him. She could feel herself growing more confused, her body going still, and her mind still trying to process this all. She began to breathe deeper and listen to the voicemail.

"Oh…" she mumbled.

"_It's me Josh,_"

When Troy heard his voice, he looked over at Gabriella, analyzing her reaction. She hugged her waist tighter as he felt himself growing protective over his new wife.

"_I tried calling your cell phone, but it's off and the voicemail box is full. I just wanted to say that I miss you—a lot. It feels like we haven't talked in forever. And I've been doing a lot of thinking lately…I want to be with you, I really do. I'm still waiting for you…"_

Gabriella and Troy both froze, remembering the promise they had made to each other that fateful day of their graduation.

"_That's why, I'm, um, doing something. I'm taking a flight down to Albuquerque." _

"Oh, God." Gabriella mumbled.

Her body grew tighter, she could feel herself gripping Troy's hand. She sighed as she felt herself freezing up all over again..

"_We're boarding right now, so, I'll see you soon…I love you._" The beep followed.

Everyone was silent.

"Oh, God, I totally forgot…this is…" Gabriella shook her head, in disbelief. "When did he leave the voicemail?"

Clara looked over at the machine. "4:13 AM."

"What time is it now?"

"7:03."

"He's here."

* * *

**Uh oh, Josh is coming! We'll see what happens... Thanks for all the reviews guys, much love.**

**- xlovelyloserface**


End file.
